Equilibrium
by neoEON
Summary: He had to go back to Alamos Town, and she was going with him. Post-10th Movie, CresseliaxDarkrai.
1. Chapter 1

So, the idea came to me while I was doodling and watching the tenth movie for about the hundredth and seventy third time. And I really wanted to draw some pretty blood… So, weirdness was thus born! A little information about the story: It's rated T because there _will_ be blood in later chapters, none of those little cartoon scuff marks. There will also be some cursing… And, well, _Cresselia_ is in this fic. I think that's pretty self-explanatory for the rating. Also, it's set maybe two or three years after the movie… AND "Dream". Think of Dream as a companion piece…

I'll try to have a chapter up every week or so, but I can't promise anything.

I don't own Pokemon.

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**Equilibrium**

* * *

Chapter One

* * *

"Cresselia." 

The metallic swan's head rose toward the deep voice from where she had been scolding a minute group of Wingull: The small water-flying Pokemon retreated in haste at the phantom that had formed in the edge of the trees. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she caught sight of the floating, ragged black Legendary, and her small arms balled into something akin to fists. An overheated whirring grew on her back as her thin, metal wings began to buzz with psychic energy.

Darkrai seemed unphased by his counterpart's display of violent attention, and continued to float aloofly where the ebbing trees met her small field. The swan, which noticed his lack of caring, killed the faint aura growing around her wings instead, and began to float toward the den in the northernmost corner of the field. "What do you _want_, Darkrai?" The swan's voice resonated with a biting, razor's edge. She had not forgotten what he had done, and despite the elapsing time since the condemning incident, Cresselia had never forgiven Darkrai for escaping off to the little town of Alamos to save it from Palkia and Dialga.

"I'm leaving."

The quick statement, like pulling off a band-aid, was painful and left both a reverberating feeling of shock in her mind, and a foreign, almost hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. Caught completely off-guard, the metal dream caster's head whipped around yet again, her eyes staring holes in the nightmare maker. Her mind reeled against the two short, to-the-point words, as her eyes skimmed across the black Legendary's face, searching for the faintest trace of expediency or hilarity. There was none. Instead, Darkrai's face remained an expertly molded piece, showing no form of his future intentions, what he meant by his words, or emotion; he was apathetic as the day was bright. Cresselia could, however, identify the faintest traces of impatience growing in his sea green eyes, where she had expected the flicker of mischief to be. As soon as her shock absolved, the swan's blood began to boil angrily and her skin grew to a fever pitch.

"Leaving _where_, Darkrai?" Her voice was still teeming with expectancy and the uncertainty her mind had harbored a moment prior, and it held the slightest of whispers, caused by the thin, nearly unmoving line her beak had produced at his sudden statement.

Darkrai, once again, made no physical indication that her words had had any effect. Instead, he floated idly, unmoving. "I'm going back," His deep voice said bluntly, as if he had expected her to know. Yet, each word was pushed. "To Alamos Town."

The stale air between them hung heavily on Cresselia, despite the lofty breeze that wove through the cedar trees and cast their beautiful scent over her island. _He's going back to his human pets?_ The amount of antagonism in her mind was enough to surprise even her. The simple venom in that one thought alone made her almost numb. Her eyes narrowed at her partner, pupils becoming nothing more than feline-like slits against her amethyst irises. And once more, Darkrai showed no signs of relaying the utter poison dripping off of her in thick, oozing strands. Though something quick, almost as quick as his words and just as potent, struck her chest heavily, almost like a physical blow. Like something had decided a swift kick to the breastbone would wake her up from her raging stupor – and in fact, it did just that. All anger was put aside as quickly as it had come, and instead of razor sharp words leaving her tan beak, a sigh did. "How long?" She finally asked, voice exhausted and chagrin.

Finally, Darkrai's shoulders collapsed from their stiff, ragged position, into something more casual. His voice, however, remained weary. "I do not know."

Cresselia rolled her eyes toward the cave, silent and forlorn in the mid-morning haze. It had been a lovely day earlier; the sun was blaring comfortably and warmed her back. But it seemed as midday grew closer, so did the clouds and the fog. Curious, as usually it was the other way around, Cresselia took to studying the oncoming storm clouds, as if they entertained her more than anything else could. Even though she wasn't looking at Darkrai, she could feel his need to get away from her, or in the very least, to leave.

As Cresselia stared at the clouds gathering above her little den, her mind pulled the images of Darkrai's last official visit to Alamos Town up to her mind's eye. Blood had clung, dried, to the wisps along his shoulders, and the ruined tassels that hung from his waist. The small, sharp spikes on the back of his arms had been severely burned, as well as his forearms, and parts of his claws. She knew, underneath the soft, black layer of mist-like tufts, there were numerous bruises. Under is visible eye, there had been a large patch of Arceus knew _what_, although she had come to assume it was some sort of bodily fluid that was definitely not supposed to see the light of day, and Cresselia could only imagine how torn up his face was under the plume of white hair. Shaking herself from the terrifying images, Cresselia turned her head violently back toward the phantom, beak opened to speak.

But Darkrai had already turned and disappeared into the forest. The lunar swan stared blankly after his retreating form, and then shifted her gaze back to her den. Hopelessness flooded over the Legendary as her eyes darted, back and forth, between the two. She could either follow him to this Alamos Town – after all, what were the chances that Palkia and Dialga were going to fight again, and _there_, no less? Or she could stay home, at Fullmoon Island, waiting and all the time wondering what was actually going on, or if Darkrai would even come back in one piece. The swan's eyes narrowed dangerously at the decision, and she cursed whatever force of nature was making her make this decision.

With a small huff, and not a further thought to the responsibilities she was leaving behind, Cresselia shot out of her clearing like a rocket after Darkrai.

Chartreuse eyes stared, confused, at the swan's sudden arrival. But neither of them said a word. In a rare and brief moment of total realization, Darkrai had to lower his head further into the ragged, sharp red points of his armor to hide a small smile.

The trip to Alamos Town was much longer than Cresselia had ever imagined. Somewhere, deep in the recesses of her mind, she had somehow managed to convince herself that Alamos Town was a mere skip, a hop and a jump from her own island. As soon as the two had set into their third hour of non-stop traveling, however, Cresselia was beginning to become doubtful. Not only had she convinced herself into such an outrageous trek, but she had also shirked most of her responsibilities, not unlike Darkrai had those years ago. She was tempted more than once to turn around and head back, but unlike Darkrai, she didn't know the way back. That sole fact, as well as her worries from before, primarily of her reckless counterpart's nature and his ability to attract large quantities of danger, was the only reason that kept her glued to his side.

It did not help that halfway though a particularly thick forest, Darkrai took it upon himself to merge with the shadowed ground. The rest of the grueling journey was filled with numerous disappearances on the phantom's part, and a large, colorful arrangement of swearing on the lunar swan's behalf, enough so to make even the hardiest of sailors blush with modesty. It was also antagonizing when she could swear she heard the darker Legendary's cruel snickers from somewhere within the trees, even when she could not locate him with her eyes. Despite Darkrai's off-color sense of humor, Cresselia had managed to survive the forest, and was not displeased when she caught the receding line of trees just ahead of herself. The large redwoods became further in distance, until they stopped abruptly in a small clearing that gave way to what appeared to be a lake. In the center was a large cropping of rock, an island, and atop the island, sat a town.

The swan had to admit that the sight, from such a distance, was very beautiful in the late afternoon sun. Golden rays filtered exuberantly over the hills furthest from her and bathed the silvery, shimmering city in an almost surreal aura. The water beneath it, for the most part, was shadowed by the large town, but where the gold struck the blue, white ribbons of glitter were born. Along the rocky cliffs that surrounded the city, the reflection of the slight disturbances of the liquid that created a natural moat brought even the most solid of rock to life. Beside her, Cresselia was only barely aware of the phantom's presence, lingering in the shadows of the forest.

"This," He started, deep voice still and steady. The swan could, however, pick a small trace of smile out from behind the barrier of calmness, "is Alamos Town."

* * *

Chapter one! Woo hoo! This is my prep for the Nanowrimo, which yes, I am aware is in November. But, I do need to work on not switching my tenses every seven seconds, so this is helping me. Perhaps, if I'm lucky, I won't need so much padding… I'm also working on _consistency_, you know, that little thing that helps you finish stories? If any of you notice it takes a little longer than it should (like… two weeks, maybe?) for me to update, don't feel shy about poking me or something. I mean it, I need to finish this. xD My goal is to have it done before June, which I think if I work hard enough, I can have it done before the end of April. So, with out further adieu, the end of my exaggeratedly long, boring, author's note. 


	2. Chapter 2

I am really beginning to hate the horizontal rules on FF. Seriously, they always like… die somewhere between the Microsoft Word and Document phase. It's just like… evil or something, I swear.

SilverUmbra, your question will be answered in this chapter. :3

I don't own Pokemon. Big surprise?

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**Equilibrium**

* * *

Chapter Two

* * *

Even up close, Alamos Town was still very awe-inspiring. Cresselia turned her head and stared out into a little square, where a few trainers were talking to their Pokemon. A small girl with a Houndour was playing with a younger boy and his Poochyena, while the older trainers sported much taller, generally stronger Pokemon. Between the buildings that they were floating behind, Cresselia could make out the brief glances of the happy humans, two of whom were engaged in an energetic battle, while a few others pooled around the action, some took notes, while others merely watched. Above head, the street lights flickered to light in the late afternoon light. The sun itself had retreated through the tall trees on the furthest hill, but the sky remained painted with its glorious spectrum. The human children, despite the last traces of light in the town, were beginning to retreat to what Cresselia could only assume was where they lived. After ten minutes, Mothers came from the small houses that littered the furthest recesses of the square to pull their children inside.

"Where, exactly, are we going?" Cresselia asked absently as she hovered faster to catch up with Darkrai, who was quite a distance ahead of her. The phantom paused at a small crossroad of alleys, looked down one of them, and rounded the corner.

"The garden." He said simply before he turned his head to peek around another corner. The sight reminded Cresselia mildly of a spy who was sneaking a city in the middle of the night as they stalked their target. Darkrai, however, did not seem to make a very good spy in her mind, as he lacked most of the required traits; he'd bee too likely to make contact with the subject and then bite their heads off for it. Cresselia chuckled to herself as she entertained the thought.

It wasn't long before she found herself beneath trees instead of buildings. The faintest peels of light cascaded through the leaves above her, creating yet another shadowy reprieve. The trees were well kept, however, unlike the natural forests. There were very few leaves that littered the ground, and dirt had been laid to form some sort of pathway along the grassy ground. Beside the little dirt road, bushes and hedges grew, some of which were flowering in the mid-summer air, allowing their pleasant aromas to drift into the air. The smell, however, only made the air heavier, and although Cresselia enjoyed the flowers quite a bit, the air was stuffy because of them. Even the wind that rushed through the trees every so often was not enough to alleviate the overpowering smell of the summer flowers, but it helped in the very least.

Above head, as soon as they had caught sight of the phantom-like Legendary, a small group of Pidgey flew off and a small Shinx zoomed through the undergrowth toward the farther reaches of the path. Cresselia watched them, curious for a moment, before she redirected her attention to a tree next to herself where branches were shaking sinisterly. Through the leaves, the swan could make out the pale cream colored fur of a Pokemon, before whatever it was dashed ahead through the foliage, leaving only the smallest traces of pale green and white in its wake. The dirt path wound toward a small cliff, and snaked around it to an observation area, beneath which was a small patch of clear land surrounded by thick trees. A fountain rested furthest from them, while benches were placed precariously close to the fenced edge of the deck above. Miniature, park-like rides; a teeter totter, a slide, and a small set of swings, rested comfortably in a small dip in the cliff side. The sound of rushing water wasn't far off, either.

"What now?" The lunar swan asked as she glanced over her shoulder at the darkness that grew between the trees. The sun had retreated just far enough to turn the eastern sky a faint, inky blue, and she could see a pinprick of a star against the sky.

"We wait for that Gallade," Darkrai said simply as he sat against the trunk of one of the taller trees. "It will take a while." Cresselia sighed and curled up against one of the trees, her wings tucked against her body and her arms pulled to her chest.

The night had not been particularly entertaining; in fact, it had been excruciatingly boring. Darkrai had offered to go off somewhere so she could sleep peacefully, but the swan vehemently declined the offer, for fear of him forgetting about her. The phantom merely shrugged, turned away from her, and remained silent the rest of the night. Amethyst eyes had watched the observation deck for the majority of the night time hours, waiting for something to poke its head over the fencing. Eventually, the need to hunker down and the wear of the long travel were enough to get the swan to slip her eyes shut. Darkrai, whom had noticed the dream weaver drift off to sleep, merged with the ground and left her to peace.

The morning came as any other one would have in the small garden. A tiny group of wild Pokemon, primarily consisting of Shinx and its evolutions, but there was a small Marill and its evolutionary line as well. All of the smaller Pokemon swarmed her, large eyes blinking curiously as they tried to figure out what she was, or why she was there. The bravest one, a large Luxray, walked carefully to the metallic swan and put one of its massive paws on her shoulder. Cresselia, jostled from her pleasant state of sleep at the touch, and raised her head angrily to see what had awoken her. But noticing her attackers were simply curious Pokemon, the swan's anger abated as quickly as it had come. Further off in the distance, under the shade of the trees, Darkrai snickered. The swan ignored the phantom and arched her neck to look at all of the Pokemon from their level. a small Azurill giggled and bounced away, the older Pokemon in tow.

"Gallade!" Both Legendary's heads shot toward the observation deck, where the green and white Gallade stood as he pointed down at them with one hand and ushered an unknown party with his other. Cresselia shied further into the shadows of the trees, reluctant to encounter whatever – _whomever_, Cresselia corrected, as it was likely humans that trailed behind the Pokemon – was coming. Out of the corner of her eye, the swan could see the tell-tale stiff-shoulder posture Darkrai had adopted, despite the fact his eyes showed no signs of the worry that his body relayed. The pleating, frantic running of the humans ceased when the first one, a medium-sized, thin woman with long blonde hair that grew darker at the tips, collided with the railing over the observation deck and threw her upper body forward to stop her momentum from carrying her over the edge.

"All-_lice_!" A male voice pleaded from somewhere behind the stationary girl, and another human came into view, this one a taller male with sandy grey hair. Beside him, a little blonde girl whom couldn't have been a day over four stood beside him. The youngest child leaned forward, placed small, pudgy hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath.

Ever suddenly, the eldest blonde hopped over the small rail and slid down the short rock. The blonde gathered momentum and, as she reached the bottom of the small cliff, lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the phantom. "Darkrai you're _back_!" She nearly screamed, which made the phantom twitch a little.

The swan, however, was definitely not embarrassed, as her counterpart was, and was most definitely _not_ overjoyed like the woman. In fact, the pale blue swan was much too busy for those emotions, and was instead plotting the blonde human's utter demise. In fact, Cresselia was very sure that, if the human wasn't firmly attached to Darkrai, and there weren't quite as many witnesses, she wouldn't be bothered to open her beak and charge up an aura beam. It wouldn't have been so much trouble, though, to wipe out the three little humans and drag Darkrai away from the hell hole of Alamos Town, but the phantom would never _forgive_ her for killing his human friends, so she decided against it.

As Darkrai bobbed in the air and struggled to keep his balance, the human touched ground and released the dark Legendary from her grasp. Above on the observation deck, the older male handed a young child to the Gallade and slid down the rocky cliff with much less grace than Alice had: As soon as he hit the bottom, he stumbled forward and landed on his face in a heap. The blonde frowned at the much-more-than-inaudible crash her companion had made and turned to help him off the ground – as she turned, however, neither Cresselia nor Darkrai had failed to notice the thin band of gold on her ring finger. Cresselia took the opportunity to steal a look at her nightmarish counterpart, who met her gaze for a split second and turned away almost sheepishly. The swan huffed as the girl helped to pull the man off the ground and turned, a bright grin on her face.

"Oh?" Blue eyes met carmine ones and blinked in confusion. "Darkrai, you have a friend?" The human asked, bemusement littered her voice like the autumn leaves to the ground as she turned to look at his own chartreuse ones.

"That- That's Cresselia!" The sandy grey-haired human said in a tone that only belonged to one whom had just met something one had been studying for quite a while. "Cresselia is a Lunar Pokemon and is regarded as one of the gentlest Legen—"

The researcher was cut off by a loud, ear-splitting scream that reverberated through the forest around them and scared the Pokemon from the trees. While the male human spoke, Alice had walked slowly to the celestial swan and extended a hand to pet Cresselia's amethyst patch on her head. The swan, which had other plans, had stopped the human's hand less than six inches from her face, and crunched down on it with her beak. _That_, the swan thought with antipathy, _is for touching Darkrai_.

"—dary Pokemon in the world…" The grey-haired human finished with the faintest hints of indignation.

"Let her _go_." The deep, roaring, voice made Cresselia flinch inwardly as she turned her black pupils to her counterpart's own blazing, angry ivory ones. Refusing the need to keep a hold on the human's hand, just to spite them all, Cresselia slowly eased the hold her beak had before she completely let go. Relieved, the girl hopped backward almost comically and bounced from foot to foot as she cradled her bleeding hand.

"Tonio," The girl whined, "You said it was _gentle_." Tears had gathered in the blonde's eyes from the pain in her hand. Tonio sighed and gingerly searched for extensive damage on Alice's hand.

"Typically, she's supposed to be," His voice was befuddled and almost a little disappointed. The man bit his lip and took the backpack he'd been wearing off and rummaged through the bag for a moment before he produced bandages. "From everything I've read, at least." Cresselia eyed the man's matching gold band on his ring finger without much thought as the man bandaged Alice's hand up. From beside the humans, the Gallade grunted unenthusiastically as he struggled to keep the younger child from her. The little girl broke free, however, and ran in the teetering fashion that young children do toward Cresselia, which caught Alice's attention.

"Allie don't you _dare_ go near that Pokemon." The woman was nearly up and away from Tonio when the young child didn't listen, and instead continued toward the swan. Cresselia, however, did not have a problem with young children – in fact, she adored humans when they were at such an age. When they were oblivious to how horrible the world was, and weren't quite ready to be turned into the monsters that humans were. Smiling a little, the swan lowered her head and allowed the girl to pet her metallic skin.

"Momma, the Pokemon isn't bad," The little girl struggled with her words a little, which made Cresselia want to scoop it up in her arms and pet it. Alice stared, dumbfounded, and Tonio just smiled and reassured the blonde woman that Cresselia _was_ a gentle Pokemon, after all. Though through the corner of her eye, the lunar swan could see Darkrai tense at the child's words, and wondered why he had. "You don't like Momma, do you?" Allie, as Cresselia realized the child was named, giggled at the metallic swan. "That's okay." The girl gave the large bird one last pat, which made her wings hum gently upon her back, and turned her gaze to the phantom.

"Allie," Alice sighed, exasperated as she broke away from Tonio and ran awkwardly to the young girl, who was still staring at Darkrai. Hoisting the child up, Alice balanced her on her hip and smiled pleasantly at the dark Legendary. "I bet you two are hungry, huh?" The question was rhetorical, but Cresselia could already feel the slight pings of hunger in her stomach. "I think we ought to get you both something to eat."

The group set out of the garden, Alice and the child in front, with Darkrai trailing not far behind. Tonio hung back near Cresselia, who had decided it might be best to put some distance between her and Darkrai, who was emanating one of the most unpleasant auras she had ever seen. Not only was Darkrai foul toward her, but she did not trust herself with psychic energy so close to the annoying older blonde. They grey haired human beside her prattled off all sorts of questions, which she nodded distractedly at as they made their way out of the garden and into the town itself.

* * *

Bwahaha, I've alwayshoped that Cresselia would bite Alice someday… And lookie, it did happen. Before any of you are like "_oh my god she had a kid, but this story is three years after the movie and the kid is four! scandalous!_" I want to inform you all now that the kid isn't really Alice's. You'll find out more about her in later chapters, though. This chapter was a complete fluke, being finished this early… But having Legendaries bite people tends to give one muse xD. The next chapter, I assure you, will take much longer. 


	3. Chapter 3

I just got back from Boise not too long ago, and everything's good. :3 But, between trying not to vomit and trying to sleep, I really didn't get much done in the way of writing, which is probably why this is so late. Sorry about that. I did draw Cresselia though… And she was… dare I say it, anthro! I can draw her in her pokemon form but it is more entertaining to experiment with human-ness.

A note about speech in this chapter, since I thought I should start clarifying it.

"This," Is everyone talking. In Cresselia's case, it's her speaking so that only Pokemon can understand her.

"_This_," Is Cresselia talking to everyone, because… Let's face it, beaks are hard to talk with xD. So, of course I imagine her talking …in the way that Mewtwo does. Make sense? It shouldn't be too hard to understand, but I figured I should probably clear it up now anyway.

I don't own Pokemon, yay.

**Equilibrium**

* * *

Chapter Three

* * *

Alice's house existed in the same fashion that all of the other houses in Alamos Town did. She lived on an inconsequential street in the middle of the suburbs, where crooked cobblestone roads seemed to be the new vogue. Little cottages, tan with their quaint brown roofs and their sky blue shutters lined the golden streets, and sunlight rarely seemed to make it down to the roads themselves because the houses were packed so tightly their shoulders brushed against one another. Most of the lots were average sized, with the two-story homes taking up a good portion of the actual lot itself. Any remaining room seemed to be dedicated to trees or organized gardens, it would seem. Down each road, every third house down was a tall, eloquent black polished streetlight that would curve from the small grassy areas they were rooted into and into the air, just high enough to come to a stop at the second story window level before they arched back down like a flower and into a bowl that directed the light into little designated areas. In the day, the lights remained off, as the late morning sun was above-head, the only time Cresselia figured it ever actually hit the cobblestones.

Alice's house was the largest on her street, reaching a grandstanding three stories. Unlike the rest of the little houses, however, her's was much narrower, and seemed to shoot up more like a bean sprout than a house should. Behind it, the ever-visible Time and Space Towers loomed, omnipotent and foreboding compared to the miniature little houses beneath them. Her shingled roof caught the slight shadow that hung off of the large towers, though the lunar swan had predicted that by the time midday rolled around, the large shadow would have sprawled to a different part of the cute little neighborhood.

"Here we are," Alice said, her voice teeming with energy. "Feel free to go inside and make yourselves at home." And with that, the blonde woman had disappeared through the white picket fence's gate and into the house itself. Like a well oiled machine, Tonio and Darkrai fell in sync behind her, and after a moment of impatience, Allie pulled gently on Cresselia's wing.

Inside, the house wasn't as glamorous. While there was no clutter, much to Cresselia's pleasure, the house wasn't as beautiful as it was on the outside – the walls were a plain cream color, and the floor was the most generic of hardwood. The first room was a small foyer that curved into a stairway, perhaps the only ounce of grace the room had, and wove upward to the second story where the walls were left open so one could stand and view the front door. On the lower level, a hallway reached behind the stairs which lead to the kitchen and off of it a dining room. To the left of the foyer was a large room with the ugliest blue carpeting Cresselia had ever seen, which Alice promptly and proudly declared the sitting room, and opposite the ugly blue room a small bathroom. Alice, much to Cresselia's relief, excused herself into the kitchen to prepare something to eat, which left the two Legendaries alone in the sitting room with Tonio and Allie. The elder human was sitting on a small loveseat with a polished white metal skeleton that supported over-stuffed cushions. To either side were matching chairs, but neither Darkrai nor Cresselia made any moves for either of them; instead, Cresselia took it upon herself to curl up next to the loveseat, Allie in tow, as it seemed the young girl had permanently attached herself to the swan in the short walk to the house. Darkrai sat, silent as death – Cresselia cringed at the thought – in the corner.

"So what brings you back to Alamos Town, Darkrai?" Tonio said after a moment of uncomfortable silence. Eagerly the sandy blonde turned toward the phantom who had perched himself in the corner. Tonio's dark eyes caught Darkrai's chartreuse ones for a split second before the latter shifted his ivory gaze.

"I needed to come back," He said, deep voice monotone and indifferent, "There are things I need to take care of."

Cresselia noticed Tonio recoil a little; a crestfallen frown perched on his face. The man recovered quickly however and turned to Cresselia, who was trying her best to ignore the little child that was trying to crawl onto her back. "Well, you've never come here with Darkrai before, Cresselia," Tonio stated obviously, opening up to a more important issue, "What made you come this time?"

A barrage of sarcastic remarks flitted across her mind and threatened to voice themselves, but Cresselia kept rein on them. For a second, there was silence before the swan's carmine eyes widened marginally and a roseate glow took to them, signifying the psychic energy. Absently, her wings took on the faintest of coral glows as well, which mystified the young girl on her back. "_I felt like coming_." She replied, the relayed tone precise and deadpan. The beautiful thing about speaking through psychic energy was that you simply could not relay anything you didn't want to – molding the words into a certain tones was much easier than it typically was when speaking, and because of it, one would only say what they wanted to. Voices could not crack when speaking through ventriloquism, as she often referred to it; nor did they bristle with anger or shock, unless of course you wanted them to. Cresselia was well aware of the fact that if she had spoken in normal fashion, her tone would have been irate at such a question, and she knew that it wouldn't have been long before she was growling at everyone. Still, she reminded herself that the human was merely curious, that and the watchful scrutiny of Darkrai, who was glaring at her violently from the corner, kept the swan in check.

As if she had just said something worthy of some giant, over-coveted prize, Tonio pulled out a little notebook from what Cresselia could only speculate was some sort of pocket in his vest. Almost magically, from the same pocket, the man produced a pen and started jotting down notes. The swan blinked at the man for a moment before her brow furrowed and created little lines in her metallic skin.

"Sorry," He explained after a moment of jotting, "It isn't everyday you get to speak with Cresselia herself, you know." Had the swan actually had feathers, she might have fluffed them up with pride.

It hadn't taken Alice very long to make something for everyone to eat. Even with her bandaged hand, the woman seemed to work at an alarmingly breakneck pace, and within a half hour there was a glorious meal spread out on the dining room table. Of course, she'd sent out a Chimchar and placed a bowl of what looked and smelled suspiciously of some generic – and disgusting, Cresselia did not fail to add – PokeFood. The blonde was even deft enough to offer a plate of the same stuff Darkrai and herself. The aforementioned phantom had merely stared at it, and just when the blue and gold swan had convinced herself her companion would _never_ eat such a nasty thing, he carefully plucked up a piece of the brown, crunchy looking kibble, scrutinized it for a moment with his large, deadpan blue eyes and popped it into his mouth. _Just when I was hopeful that he wasn't a lapdog, too_. The swan thought with a suffering sigh. She, unlike her counterpart, was not about to eat PokeFood, and would much sooner settle for a nice steaming mug of mud than such a ridiculous excuse of cuisine. All the while the swan wondered how the Pokemon, and her own counterpart for that matter, could be bothered by eating the grotesque _stuff_ that the woman had laid out for them. And yet they did, without any hints of complaints. It was slowly becoming more obvious to Cresselia that Darkrai was either an extreme pushover when it came to the humans, or he really did lack taste buds. Hoping vehemently it was the latter, the lunar Legendary watched patiently as everyone ate.

Time passed excruciatingly slowly after the meal; Alice and human company had gathered entirely in the little sitting room, where Allie preoccupied herself with a doll, and Tonio preoccupied himself with interrogating Darkrai. The researcher was using the opportunity to his advantage, as it wasn't everyday one such as himself would have _Darkrai_ sitting in his living room, now was it? Alice seemed content with just listening to the two, all of whom were completely oblivious to the little swan that was contemplating how long it would take for them to realize she was dangerously close to sporking her eyes out. The dry humor didn't seem to help her mood very much in the least, and in fact, with every question Darkrai seemed to respond to – whether it was verbally, or a shift in his posture, as she was secretly watching him from the corner of her eyes – her chest clenched a little tighter and her mood became a little more sour. He never talked to _her_ like that, it was different to see that little flicker in his eyes – that flicker of interest. He never seemed to like talking to her, and to think that she was bested by a human was preposterous. The fact that he was her counterpart only seemed to rub salt in the wound. Perhaps, if they had both been born Chimchars, or something more generic, it wouldn't have bothered her as much. But the idea of him being more open with a woman he couldn't have known more than a few years, and not sharing the common courtesy with _her_, who had known him for _hundreds_ of painful, torturous, insulting years was enough to make her seriously consider floating off to find that aforementioned spork.

Finally, when things seemed to become unbearable, everything finally stopped. Although she was vaguely aware that Darkrai was still talking, she felt as if someone had just hit a giant pause button. Everything faded comfortably into the background long enough for her to gather herself and set up her mask of cool collectiveness. Her eyes softened just a little as she snapped back to reality only to see the small girl sitting in front of her, the doll outstretched between the two. "Do you want to play, Cresselia?" The swan blinked down at the girl, who couldn't quite pronounce her name right. With anyone else, the mispronunciation might have tried her patience, but with human children, everything was taken with a bit of sugar. Her eyes flickered upward, and on queue, so did Darkrai's. Though instead of finding some sort of reassurance that it was _okay_ to play with the kid, she was beginning to wonder why she even expected it, she was met with the harsh gaze that suggested if she _didn't_ try to get along with them, she might find herself dreaming of being chased by a herd of Rhydon. Doing her best to quell the emotions that stirred up at the glance, she turned her attention to the child and nodded.

* * *

It's short and it's horrible and it's a FILLER CHAPTER. Well, not really… There was one itsy bitsy teeny weeny little thing that is plot-effective. If you caught it, feel free to have a Kudo. Next chapter is featuring none other than the Baron. Oh, it's going to be a fun chapter alright. Things will start getting more serious, too, after it. There are probably typos galore in this chapter, I've reread it three times but I still don't think I've found all of them. I'll fix it when I'm more awake. :3


	4. Chapter 4

Bwahaha! I'm back! No, I haven't abandoned you all, I just had Finals… And I still have lots of cramming to do to finish this school year –bleh- so you know… I was hoping to have this done by the first of April, but OBVIOUSLY that's not happening xD. Maybe I'll aim for the first of July…

Anyway, as promised, Baron Alberto is making an appearance – and he'll be in the story from here on out. And we get to learn more about little Allie, yay.

I don't own Pokemon, because I'm not that cool

**Equilibrium**

* * *

Chapter Four

* * *

Cresselia was beginning to realize just how much energy Alice had. The next day had started bright and early, somewhere around sunrise, with the young woman beginning breakfast. Cresselia had not gotten much sleep that night, being alone in a house full of strange humans – Darkrai was not permitted inside during the nightly hours, as nobody wanted to have nightmares – and therefore she had resolved to meticulously watch their early morning routines. It started excruciatingly early, with Alice waking up, showering, cleaning the kitchen briefly, then beginning the stages of preparing breakfast, which involved washing out a frying pan and throwing some bacon into it. She had floated behind the young woman silently, just watching, and after a while, Alice became nervous, and started to fidget and drop things she was holding. At the sight, Cresselia felt a small plume of contentment swell in her chest.

"Why don't you like me?" She asked after a moment, her voice small with the slightest of quivers in it, the kind that made Cresselia feel sick. "I didn't do anything to you, I don't know why you are."

She chose not to dignify the question with an answer, and instead responded in her mind, where Alice could not hear the list of profanities she was throwing her way. But the reason was simple, of course; Darkrai liked Alice, perhaps even more than he liked her, and that was something Cresselia found quite unbearable. She hated to admit it, but she was easily angered whenever Darkrai was near the little human, and she hated the way he _looked_ at her, like she was an equal deserving just as much respect as any other legendary Pokemon might. But more than anything, Cresselia hated Darkrai, because he never looked at her that way. Whenever he looked at her, his eyes sparkled with different ways to humiliate or to antagonize, or on the worst of days, they did not glitter at all, but instead they became dark pits of some hideous mixture of contempt and frustration with her, and she did not like that one bit.

It was not long before the young girl and the man came down to eat, roused by the smell of bacon and eggs. By then, Darkrai had showed up, with his inexplicably keen ability to sense that everyone was awake again. Breakfast was a short affair, Alice handed the other humans a plate of eggs and bacon, while she dished up three bowls of disgusting looking pellet-food, and gave one to each Pokemon. Again, Cresselia refused to eat it.

After breakfast, Alice bounced around the kitchen cleaning up – she gathered the dishes, forked the remainder of the food into a trash bin, and washed them in a machine near the sink. Within the hour, she had ordered Tonio to change his clothes, and had helped Allie into her own clothes. Not long afterward, everyone left the house.

To Cresselia's understanding, it was a weekend. This meant that a majority of humans, including the ones she had been stuck with, did not do anything productive – they did not go to work, nor did they go to school – instead, they had leisure time. Strangely enough, there were carts that lined the streets, manned by humans, young and old alike. There were people on the cobblestone paths with large Pokemon, third-level evolutions that Cresselia took pride in knowing she could crush with the flick of her head. These people were battling, their Pokemon shooting off special attacks that glittered glamorously in the early morning sunlight, and reminded the lunar swan of a poorly constructed circus.

"It's such a nice day," Alice said, earning the agreement of both the little girl and Tonio, "Especially for a fair."

Cresselia turned her head to the side, carmine eyes searching the shadows that the tall buildings gave off. After a moment, they landed on Darkrai, who vehemently refused to float in plain daylight. As expected, he was watching her with that vaguely violent expression in his only visible eye, suggesting that she'd be better off behaving. Sighing to herself, she fell behind the group of humans as they headed off to one of the stands that boasted it was a ring toss. Alice helped the younger girl catch one of the rings on one of the numerous bottles, and out of the corner of her eye, Cresselia could see Darkrai watching intently.

"You're awfully quiet," Snapping out of her thoughts, Cresselia turned her head to the sandy-haired human who was engrossed in his computer. "I'm beginning to think that Darkrai talks more than you do." He observed with a small laugh.

"_I don't have much to say_," She admitted, making sure the length of psychic voice was calm and steady, "_That's all_."

"I bet it's weird, seeing Darkrai with us," He mused as he typed away on his laptop, which was supported by a small café table near the stand, "You're not used to it, are you?"

She stared at the human for a moment, eyes hard and suspicious. He glanced up at her, noticing the expression, and laughed again. "Don't look at me like that; Alice was the same way when Allie came to live with us. Alamos Town is a pretty tight-knit community, everyone here knows everyone else. Allie's parents were in an accident a year or two back, and it left her homeless. Alice was sympathetic, so she decided to let her live with us… But it was awkward, you know?" He shook his head and turned back to the computer. "She clung to Allie, but at the same time, it was extremely awkward to see Allie in her environment. I'm sure that's how you feel about Darkrai?" The swan merely snorted and looked away as another voice shouted from across the street.

"Darkrai!" It boasted loudly, dislike very evident in its tone, "How dare you return here!"

Tonio sighed as he glanced up from the laptop monitor again, toward a regal looking human with slicked back hair, and a woman clinging to either arm. "That's the Baron," He muttered, "He doesn't like Darkrai."

"_Even after he saved your town_?" She asked, not taking her eyes off of the Baron.

"You know about that?" Tonio deadpanned, but regained his composure and continued, "Alberto… Still seems to think that it was Darkrai's fault Palkia and Dialga appeared in the first place." The man sighed again, closed his computer, put it away in a bag slung over his shoulder and stood up, just as Alice turned her attention to the Alberto. The Baron shook one of his arms free and reached to his belt, unhooking a Pokeball before throwing it in the air.

"Lickilicky!" He demanded loudly as the large pink Pokemon escaped its prison, "Get that abomination! Hyperbeam!"

The large Pokemon threw its head backward, summoning up a large golden blast before its mouth. With one great heave, it sent it forward toward its shadowy opponent. But as Darkrai prepared to merge into the ground, the golden ball of energy was encased in a faint mauve glow and immediately redirected its route toward the sky. Cresselia let out the faintest of hisses as she floated forward quickly, one wing outstretched in a misty veil of psychic energy. Before the Baron could recall his Pokemon, Cresselia threw the blade of amethyst energy into the Lickilicky, which sent it skidding backward before it eventually fell at its trainer's feet, knocked out.

"Amazing," Tonio breathed as he pulled his laptop from his bag once more and began typing furiously at the keyboard.

"Lickilicky," Baron Alberto said flatly as he pulled the Pokeball back and recalled the monster. "You brought a friend with you this time, Darkrai? Is she going to help you destroy our little town too?" He sneered, which earned a laugh from the girls that flanked him. Cresselia glanced back at Darkrai, who had a half-charged Dark Void in his hands, and seemed to be weighing the consequences of shooting it.

"But don't look so confused, Darkrai," The Baron's voice was a tad darker now, "We both know you're interfering with the tower's electronics," He paused and flickered his gaze to Cresselia, "Or is it your friend who's doing it?"

"We don't know what you're talking about, Alberto," Alice frowned as she pulled Allie away from the game cart, "Darkrai and Cresselia have been with us the whole time."

"Is that so?" He asked, obviously disbelieving, "Well perhaps then I should just show you what they've done." He said loudly as he turned toward the tower and motioned for them to follow.

* * *

Well, well, well, we're getting somewhere! One more chapter before Part One ends, and the good stuff _really_ starts happening. In this chapter, Lickilicky used Hyperbeam, Darkrai almost used Dark Void, and Cresselia used Psychic and Psycho Cut. Just thought I'd let you know.


	5. Chapter 5

Another chapter? Pretty crazy, huh?

I don't own Pokemon, and thank goodness I don't

**Equilibrium**

* * *

Chapter Five

* * *

"Here we are," The Baron addressed the group flatly as they stood before the large towers. From outside, everything seemed to be in working order – nothing had crumbled, the structure was fine, and everything Cresselia had expected to be wrong with the architectural monster was not to be found. Instead, before the mismatched group of humans and Pokemon stood a large twin tower, magnificent and silent in all its glory.

"Alberto…" Alice prodded, glancing suspiciously at the Baron. "Nothing's wrong with it. It's fine."

At this, the man addressed laughed and shook his head. "If you'd be ever so kind as to follow me," He said simply as he made his way to the large double doors that stood before the behemoth stone entity, "I can show you what's wrong with it." Sniffing aristocratically to himself, he pulled one of the doors in and slipped inside.

Baron Alberto had never been a man of science; he preferred brute strength, charm, cunning, and the utmost degree in the art of weaseling to get what he wanted. Never, not once, had he ever had to resort to such a crude thing as science – why, he had never sat in one place for very long, watch as his work crumbled to pieces before him, and then be handed the task of figuring out what went wrong. No, Baron Alberto was not a man of science, and because of this, he was not a man of technology, either. He had never understood the innermost workings of a machine, and his only cognition of them was that perhaps a few worked on large gears and latches and circuits that he had seen inside of the towers, which had been worked into the décor. But even so, it was not difficult for a man like Baron Alberto to spot that there was something _wrong_ with the tower, and he did not have to be a man of science, or a mechanic, to understand it.

And he definitely knew that whatever was wrong with it was not caused by anything natural.

He led the large group through the main foyer, past the statues and grandeur, into a medium sized room with a cold stone floor and impersonal but sophisticated dark wood furniture. Alberto walked swiftly to the desk, pulled a computer monitor violently around, and pressed the button to turn it on.

Nothing happened.

"None of the electronics will turn on," He said finally, after he saw the skeptical looks flashed his way. "_None_ of them will work, save one or two. We've checked the power supply, the back up generator, and even the devices themselves. Nothing's wrong with them."

Tonio stepped forward to examine the computer, while Alberto turned toward Darkrai and Cresselia, whom had been floating quietly in the corner. "Not only are they here, but the incidences began happening two days ago."

Alice rolled her bottom lip between her teeth – Cresselia and Darkrai had arrived two days ago, but it didn't necessarily mean they were doing harming the tower, right? After a brief moment of contemplation, the blonde woman turned around and glanced over her shoulder toward the two legendaries. "You have nothing to do with this, right?"

"Nothing." Darkrai replied steely.

"Then they had nothing to do with it, Alberto," Alice said, crossing her arms. Allie had resolved to clutch Alice's calf, and wasn't moving for the world. Alice turned away from the man only long enough to give her a brief, reassuring smile, before she looked up to Tonio.

"Do you know what's wrong with them?"

While Alberto had been speaking, Tonio had pulled the tower of the device onto the desk, and was proceeding to pick it apart. Thoughtfully, he glanced at a few items, put them back, grabbed a few more and went on like this for a few moments before he bothered to look up from the machine. Adjusting his glasses, he replaced the back of the tower and reached for his laptop. "There's nothing structurally wrong with this computer…" His voice was far away, as if thinking, "I can't find any reason as to why it won't boot up. Are any of the other computers working, Baron?"

"Yes…" The man said slowly, deliberately, and Cresselia noticed that he scrunched his nose up a little whenever addressing Tonio, as if there was a great dislike between the two. "A few of the lower level computers are still working, but everything else isn't." Tonio placed his laptop on the hardwood desk, pulled a long cord from one of the many pockets on his laptop bag and pressed one end into each computer. After a moment, there was a small _bing_ and a small window appeared on his laptop.

"It seems everything is in operating order… Have you had any recent power surges? Or anything that might damage the outlets?" He asked absently as he tapped a few buttons on his keyboard.

"No."

"Hmm," He unplugged his computer from the inoperative one and placed the cord connecting the two into his bag. After a second of rummaging, he removed a larger cable with plug at one end and a small jack at the other. "If you don't mind?" Seeing as Alberto didn't mind, he pressed the jack into he laptop and the plug into the socket. After a second, a small icon appeared on the screen.

"Now that's odd," He pulled the charger out of the socket and replaced it with his laptop in the bag. Stiffly, he stood up and addressed everyone in the room. "From what I've gathered, it should be a problem with the circuits, or the general electricity to this room, as the computer has no substantial damage to it… But my laptop just charged," He screwed his eyebrows up in thought and tapped his chin. "Can I see the other computers, the ones that are working?"

The group visited another similar room, with a stony grey floor and thick, dark wood furniture, where the working computers were kept. However, this room was much larger than the previous one, and hailed three computers instead of a single one. Tonio went about examining the computers, conducting a simple routine for all three; he would turn them on, check their functions, turn them off, check the inner mechanics, then he would check the sockets. After repeating it three times, he straightened up from his sitting position on the floor and stretched. "I didn't find any difference from the first computer. Everything seems functional…" He bit his lip as he dusted off his vest, "Have any of the tower's other functions stopped? Clocks? Other electronics?"

"A good percentage of them have," Alberto said stiffly, "The large pendulums don't swing, the mechanical aspects of the tower have stopped, and the music won't play."

The time passed quickly in this fashion – an hour later, Allie complained of being hungry, and Alice agreed to take her out to get her some lunch. Tonio stated simply that he was going to continue checking the tower's functions to see if he could get any leads as to why it was acting so strangely. Darkrai had opted to go with Alice, but Cresselia, whom had been watching Baron Alberto very intently, offered to stay back with Tonio, simply explaining that she might be of some assistance, despite the fact that she knew next to nothing about human machinery. But the celestial swan wasn't about to openly admit that she was afraid Tonio was just a little too oblivious to the malice Alberto seemed to harbor for him, and in fearing that something might happen to the human – and result directly in a cranky Darkrai – she silently decided that she would keep an eye on him.

From then on, the day dragged. Tonio had spent the entire morning and afternoon examining different aspects of the situation and coming up with a list of possible problems that, upon further analysis and comparison to the features of the tower and electronics, became improbable, and in some cases even impossible. The man was a patient person, she observed as she watched him, but by the end of the day the toll began to show and his composure slowly began to unravel into ribbons of frustration. By the time night began to fall on the town, he looked about ready to tug his hair out. Gently, she suggested that the tower would still be there in the morning, and that perhaps he might want to leave. In reality, she was beginning to become more than a little tired of the Baron looming over her shoulder, and was dangerously close to snapping at him. To her relief, the sandy haired man agreed, and packed up his stuff to head home. On the way back, he stopped to buy himself some dinner and in gratitude for her staying with him the entire time, he bought her a small bag of premium Pokemon pellet-food. Although at first, she was very inclined to deny it, her empty stomach finally got the better of her, and miserably, she ate a few bites.

As soon as they returned to the house, Tonio retired to his room while Cresselia lingered outside, where a jittery looking Darkrai had been floating near the entrance to the house. "You look upset." She said quietly.

"I am," He shifted, "A little."

Cresselia made a movement to extend a wing to him, but thought better of it and tucked it back against her chest. Crestfallen by her own devices, she turned back to the door and opened it. As she floated through the arch, she paused to look over her shoulder and whispered a quiet, "Goodnight, Darkrai."

* * *

**End of Part One**

* * *

Tada! I'm on a roll! Consider it an apology for taking forever and then some on getting chapter four up. Anyway, part one just ended… Part two is beginning with chapter six, obviously, and is going to be pretty awesome. This is the halfway mark for the story, not including the epilogue I have planned.


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own Pokemon.

**Equilibrium**

**

* * *

**Part Two – Chapter Six

She was not happy. For Cresselia, not being happy at some point was a given, something she always came to expect every so often. But her typical bouts of rage were never as fierce as this one, and like no other time before, she wished, just this once, she were completely invisible to everyone around her. She could never remember, in the history of forever, being so angry; and although the need to rip something's head off was an obtrusive, yet equally inviting idea, she suppressed it. Though she swore, in that instant, if she was _ever_ woken up so early again, heads would roll.

It had started roughly an hour ago, five o'clock in the morning, so early that the sun had not even thought of meandering up over the rocky mountain range that curtained Alamos Town. The sky outside the widow was a hazy, boring black, and everything had been perfect and tranquil. She'd been on the fringes of sleep, that surreal state where outside influences affect one's dreams, and nothing has a solid grasp on reality anymore. And from these depths of slumber came the most abrasive, ear-splitting _bang-bang-bang_ that she had ever heard in her life. The sound itself was mechanical, the kind that had borne gooseflesh over her metallic skin, and raised her mind to full alert. It was a sound, in all her years of living, that she had not once heard before.

"What was that?" Came an alarmed whisper from the other room. Cresselia arched her neck closer toward the door, hoping to catch more of what was going on. The night air stirred, and she sensed the humans around her were just as bothered by it as she was.

From the other side of the hall, she watched Tonio bustle out of the room, an evening coat on over his blue pajamas. He was moving so quickly that he hadn't noticed the crooked angle his glasses were at, or the chaotic tangle his hair had worked itself into. Cresselia, under different circumstances, would have made a note to mention this to him, but found the situation at hand a tad more pressing. With a flurry of angry bell-like sounds, she raised herself up from the floor and flew swiftly through the threshold of her room, out into the hall – so quickly that the door of Alice's room slammed shut on her, a fact that Cresselia would later look back on and smile – and down the stairs. Sound was clearer down here; she could hear the muffled shouts of someone outside, screaming with such bravado she could only expect it to be Baron Alberto. Her gut tightened at the very thought, and as soon as Tonio threw the front door open, the snap-bang resounded again, in such volume that she cringed away at it.

"Momma?" Upstairs, Allie sounded nervous. Cresselia could hardly hear her hushed tone over the loud pop outside, but the desperateness made her pause and glance up at the head of the stairs. The girl stood, staring down at her, eyes wide and hair tangled. Dangling from one hand was a worn teddy bear.

"Allie, come here, dear," Alice gathered the girl into her arms, and another blast erupted from the street.

"What do you think you're _doing_?" Tonio roared, an uncharacteristically harsh edge to his voice, "Are you trying to _kill_ someone?"

Cresselia shivered as the chilly air interrupted her thoughts. She'd desperately tried to figure out what the sound was, and the temperature drop only made her thoughts stir more erratically. She peered around her, in the dark, trying to get a hold of what was going on. She could only make out Tonio, though he was addressing someone a little farther to her left, shrouded in shadow. Squinting, she realized it was, of course, Alberto.

"I," He boasted loudly, though something in his voice made her recoil, "Am trying to rid ourselves of a _monster_." He spit the word with so much venom that her mouth tasted funny, and she wanted nothing more than to clamp down on his hand for a few good seconds. It took longer to process that the only _monster_ hanging around was Darkrai, and that made her stomach flip flop again. Her eyes wandered to her left, where between two buildings, floated a figure she knew all too well.

"Darkrai?" She whispered, a metallic chirp escaping her.

"Oh my _god_!" Shrieked Alice, from behind her. She turned her head backward just in time to see Alice's hand go to her mouth, and a muffled scream escape through her fingers. Darkrai wasn't that frightening, was he? She frowned and turned around to examine the figure closer. In the shadows, she could hardly make him out, his camouflage being extraordinary in the night time. All she could see was the blazing blue eye, its mirror image clouded by a tuft of fog-like hair. He was holding his shoulder with his left hand, and he seemed to favor that side a little. Under closer scrutiny, she noticed a thick liquid that slipped down his arm and onto the ground beneath him, and felt a wave of bile rush up her throat. Darkrai's mouth was pulled up out of his armor, and she saw a thick, painful scowl painted on it, and the urge to vomit was overwhelming.

With a shriek of her own, she whipped around to face the two humans, who were struggling against one another. Tonio had grabbed one of Alberto's wrists, and had forced something out of it. It made a sharp, metallic clang when it hit the pavement.

With a war cry, Cresselia kicked her thin metal wings into gear and lunged forward at the two, barely missing Tonio. Alberto stumbled backward as she threw her head toward him, her beak missing his face by less than an inch. With another angry scream, she thrust her head back and opened her beak so wide that the structural bones in her face began to ache. With another roar, a swirling blue ball formed in her mouth, and shot at the man. "You don't believe me?" He asked, his voice so loud that people had begun to form outside their houses, "You don't believe me when I say I was ridding ourselves of a monster?"

The sound of his voice was so different from when she had heard him earlier. Cresselia had known at once that she did not like this man, not for what he was doing to Darkrai, but at that very second in time, he sounded almost deranged. He raised his hand to point over her shoulder, and she clamped her beak shut, stopping her aurora beam. "That _thing_ has done nothing but cause trouble for Alamos Town," Alberto grit his teeth together, "He's _destroying_ it as we speak!" She broke to look around her. The tower was but a ghost in the darkness, but even at the distance, it looked wrong. It looked _ruined_. She gulped, swallowing down the bile that was rising again, and turned her attention to Alberto, more specifically, to giving him a hurt he wouldn't soon forget. Rearing back her neck one final time, she snapped open her beak and brought it down on the man's shoulder. It connected, and she heard the most delicious howl she ever thought possible. He squirmed in her grip, but was unable to escape, until hands began to pry her off of him.

"Cresselia!" Tonio shouted, so loudly she was tempted to swing around and give him a whooping, too. She fell back, quick enough that she skimmed the ground and had to bounce back to regain her balance. Behind her, Alice was shouting for someone to call the authorities and Nurse Joy. The legendary felt a breath hitch in her throat, and with an unstable buzz, floated her way over to Darkrai, who shrunk further back into the alley.

"Don't come any closer," He warned, his voice deep and foreboding, but the sharp edge of pain was not hidden from her ears. She winced as she got close enough to examine the thick, black trails that ran down his arm, and the oil-slick puddle beneath him.

"How much blood have you lost?" When he didn't respond, she tried again. "Let me see it."

Reluctantly, the ghastly legendary inched his claws downward, so that a small, although prominent, hole was visible in his arm. The movement triggered a rather vulgar looking spurt of blood, and the nausea returned again. Inhaling deeply, she craned her neck forward and her wings buzzed, then began to glow as they increased their tempo. He stared at her, an unsettled look in his eye, but made no further attempts to move away from her. Out of the corner of the eye, she watched the faintest sliver of moon escape behind a cloud, and as soon as it had, her vision began to flicker. It continued in this manner, as if short circuiting, and the last thing she felt before it went black was the sensation of hitting pavement.

--

And so she woke up, her head splitting and her eyes throbbing. She opened her eyes a sliver and peered around the room; it was white, and it smelled like a hospital. The clock on the wall read six-o-two AM. With a groan, she rolled slowly onto her side, and picked her head up. Outside, in the hall – the door was closed, and the voices muffled – two people were talking.

"It's a shame you can't keep him in here," One drawled. It was female, and Cresselia instantly recognized it to be Alice. It sounded like she'd been crying.

"…I know," The second voice was female as well, a little higher, and genuinely guilty, "But the other patients here are ill, and many of them are sleeping. I'm afraid that keeping him here might hurt their recovery."

There was another soft sound, a sniffle. "Yeah, still…"

"I'm surprised we did as well as we had. I've never seen a Pokemon like that… We owe a lot to Cresselia, though, I'm afraid if she hadn't stopped the bleeding when she had…" A pause, and her stomach flipped, "The bullets struck an artery in his arm, it's amazing he's even moving it."

The conversation drifted down the hall, and with it, she let her head hit the pillow it had been resting on. She was angry – she was stark, raving mad, and there was nothing she could do about it. She was confined to a bed, hardly able to move – healing was a talent that came at an extensive price. To repair someone else, she had to feast upon her own wellness. From what she'd had, a brief glimpse into the intricacies of Darkrai's wound, she knew it was bad. The full extent, however, she had not entirely grasped. It was a long while before the voices came back. Periodically, a young woman checked on her, asked her how she was feeling, and walked out with a dazed expression on her face. They weren't used to seeing her, they were used to the average Bulbasaur, or Charmander. Not a legendary moon Pokemon.

Noon rolled around, and Cresselia was certain she was going to go insane if no one decided to spring her from her prison. Tonio had dropped by, though, and handed her a newspaper – ha, a newspaper – as if she'd actually _read_ it. But the picture on the front spoke for itself. It was of the towers, though it was as if someone had bombed the place. Everything was falling apart, and from the captions under the picture, no one seemed to know why. Though the decay, it would seem, was worse than it had been a few hours earlier. Or, at least, it seemed that way now that she actually saw the pictures. She skimmed the article for a brief moment, and cursed herself that she hadn't spend more time studying the human's written language. Some of the words were foreign, but she pieced enough of it together to understand the concept; something bad was happening, and people were panicking. Tonio bid her farewell, wishing her a speedy recovery, and said that if she needed him or Alice, they'd be at the tower, trying to figure out what was happening. Not once, did she bother to ask how Darkrai was doing, and she didn't dare to ask about Alberto.

WELL, I'm SOOOOOOOOOO.

SOOOOOOOOOO. Sorry about what happened. Life took this weird, funny turn on me and, well, without telling you my whole life story, things went bad. So I only just now got my computer back, and with it, I'm hoping to be churning out more chapters. We've got about four more to go, and then the story will be done.

I bet none of you expected someone would be shot, did you? I thought I'd come back with a bang. :3


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I didn't have time to reply to all of you, which I apologize for, but I appreciate your reviews!

I don't own Pokemon.

**Equilibrium**

**

* * *

**Chapter Seven

Cresselia hated recovering. The idea of being crammed in a tiny little room, all alone, for immeasurable periods of time was not one that she liked to dwell upon, or considered appealing. There was absolutely no form of entertainment in this room – it was a Pokemon center, built for Pokemon who had little to nothing going on in their brains. And it was not adequate to support her needs. The bed was too small, it was lumpy, and she had a kink in her neck at this point. But perhaps the _worst_ part of the whole ordeal was the fact that she was not the one who was truly recovering – it was Darkrai.

She hadn't seen him in hours. It was officially five o'clock in the afternoon, and she'd had very little word about what was going on. Tonio had come in a few times, and explained that Alice was very busy. He tried to explain further that with Darkrai in the condition he was in – although Tonio failed to elaborate on exactly what that condition was – and the tower in a complete state of disarray, that they were very busy, and she'd just have to stay put. He'd checked in a little while later, looking very tired and much warier than he had earlier in the day. He told her that it was no longer just the tower that was deteriorating, but the entire town was beginning to fall apart. Upon hearing this news, her nerves only addled her even more – and the fact that he _still_, even when she asked him directly, would not tell her anything of Darkrai, made her even more concerned.

So, naturally, she'd tried to escape. First, she tried the door, as there was no window in the room. She'd tried to wrap her beak around it, and when that didn't work, she used psychic to try and open it. But she found quickly that the doorknob wouldn't budge; it was locked. Cresselia's knowledge of human locks was varied, but from what she had gathered over her lifetime, she knew that it had to do with tumblers. Each tumbler had to be pressed upward to a certain position for the lock to release. So, for the majority of forty-five minutes, she tried to pick the lock. When it turned out to be unsuccessful, Cresselia had had enough. Her wings flickered violently at her sides and began to glow, and simultaneously, so did the doorknob. It took only a matter of seconds, but that was long enough to cultivate so much psychic energy within the door. With a small bang, the knob erupted into thousands of tiny shards that caught themselves mid-thrust. Cresselia lowered them to the ground and silently pushed the door open. There were nurses – not the pink haired one, but interns, she suspected – in the hall. They were tending to a Charmander who had, from the looks of it, a broken leg. She ghosted past them without much trouble, and found herself sneaking into the lobby.

Here, there was more turmoil. There were at least thirty people crammed into the tiny waiting room, each having at least one Pokemon – varying from the tiniest Pichu to the largest, which happened to be an obese-looking Garchomp. Each trainer looked thoroughly shaken, and each Pokemon had some sort of injury. Nurses clambered between people, assessing the most seriously injured and taking them into the rooms in the back. _Good thing I freed up a room_, She thought smugly as she glided – virtually unnoticed in all the commotion – through the automatic doors.

She had not been prepared for the chaos outside. The buildings that she had seen just a few days before in perfectly fit condition were reduced to ruins. Their skeletons were visible, and the bricks they were made of had disintegrated – in many cases – to dust. She gasped at the sight of the once-fair city, bustling with life and activity, on its knees. The second thing she noticed, after a long moment of observation, was that nobody was on the streets. She busied herself with hovering down a few alleys and peering into holes that had shown up in the sides of the buildings. Nobody sat inside them; no lights were on, none of the outlets were working. The power had gone out. Above her, an angry looking swarm of thunderheads bristled, warning of an impending storm. Somewhere, far in the distance, a crack of thunder sounded, and a stream of liquid electricity found a spot to land on one of Alamos Town's bordering mountain range.

She flinched at the sound, but continued searching the abandoned city. She passed the Contest Hall, a large, amassing building that seemed to be one of the only ones with a back up generator, besides the Pokemon center. Even from outside of the large building, she could hear the hoards of people that were gathered inside of it – seeking refuge from the disaster outside. The building's splendor had all but decayed, and it was amazing it was even standing, when buildings around it had been reduced to rubble. As if they had aged hundreds of years in just a few hours. She only knew of two things that could do so much damage unnoticed, and she didn't like the idea of facing either of them. She stared at the Contest Hall for a very long moment, watching as parts of the building literally crumbled beneath their own weight. Thankfully, it was nothing structural – merely décor on the outside of the building. It took her more than a few minutes to finally gather her wits about her, and when she finally had, she set off for the only logical place she could imagine anyone that she was searching for would be at: the towers.

She had seen a picture of them in the newspaper, and the memory of their grandeur was still fresh in her memory. If she had only those two images to go by, she would have never noticed the building at all. The tower was nearly half of its size, and all of the wrought iron spindles that worked off of each tower were completely gone. A green substance – something she was hoping was moss but looked more like mold – covered the side, and nothing moved within it. The spires at the top had cracked off into sharp edges, and looked more like knives than a piece of architectural mastery. The small Pokemon that seemed fond of the tower had completely abandoned it – the Pidgey, Spearows, Starly, Wingull, all gone. In fact, she hadn't seen any of them throughout the town itself, either. This was exceptionally unsettling, and she began to doubt whether or not anyone was even in the tower. She wandered through the open double doors, one of which was hanging and the other had fallen off of its hinges completely. Inside, the statues were worn down so their features were no longer distinguishable, and each musical plate that sat in them was completely gone. The tower, according to the story Darkrai had told her of the last time he was in Alamos, was the key to stopping Dialga and Palkia. With the music gone… If they, or anything else – that idea was more than ominous – appeared, the town would be entirely defenseless. The only thing that had survived the onslaught of time was the staircase that lead up to the offices she had seen just the other day, when Alberto summoned them to see the broken computers. She followed the flight for a ways, until voices resounded through the halls. Encouragement flooded over her, and she increased her speed until she could make out the words.

"…But I don't understand," It was a female voice, and it sounded a lot like Alice. She was frantic. "Tonio, I don't understand what's going on!"

"…I know…" He spoke so softly she didn't catch much of what he was saying. "…I'm not sure either…"

There was a long pause in the speech, and Cresselia could only imagine that what he was saying was still too soft for her to hear. She crept closer to a heavy oak door, which was, miraculously, still standing. Its surface, however, was worn, and there were cracks in the metal work.

"But it was never _this_ bad, not even when Palkia and Dialga came! It was _never_ this bad."

There was a low, hollow groan, and her heart skipped two beats. There was only one being she had met in her entire life that could make a sound like that, and it was Darkrai.

"Do you know?" Alice was pleading now, in a pathetically insecure tone, "Do you know what's going on, Darkrai?"

The silence was so unbearable that she pressed the side of her head to the door in order to hear, but nobody was speaking. The silence wore on so long, she had to restrain herself from barging into the room, only because the information spoken would be valuable, and if they knew she was there…

"Well, Darkrai?" A short pause, "Please, if you know what's happening, _tell_ us!"

There was another uncomfortable silence, where he grunted, but did not say anything.

"Something bad is going to happen, isn't it?" It was not so much of a question anymore, it was an answer. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine what was going on in the room. She could almost picture Alice's expression. But Tonio and Darkrai just left large gaps in her vision, infallible voids.

"It is." The reply was so absent that Cresselia thought she'd imagined it. The silence that extended after the bleak admittance only deepened her theory. Until she heard the sob, and knew Alice was crying.

This time, Tonio spoke; "They aren't coming back, are they?" His voice was so full of fear, she could hardly picture him ever saying such a thing.

But she couldn't wait anymore. Whether she subconsciously did it, or it was just meant to be, one of the hinges gave way. She backed up just enough to barge angrily through the door, her metallic, ring-like wings making a terrible whirring sound in the air around her, like an over-worked clock.

They were standing in a circle, Alice was in the furthest corner, backed up against two oak desks that had seen better days. She hadn't noticed Cresselia, and if she had, she acknowledge it. Her head was buried in her hands, and she was shaking. Tonio stood to her left, his right arm pulled across his chest and his left elbow balancing on it. He was holding his glasses, and massaging the bridge of his nose with his left hand. At the farthest end of the room was Darkrai, floating in an unstable sort of way. His right arm had thick white bandages on it, and there was a soft splatter of red where the arm was still bleeding.

"Cresselia –"

"So that's what you came back here for, huh?" She growled. Her wings kicked up a flurry, so quickly that the papers strewn across the office were kicked up. "I can't believe it! When were you going to _tell_ me you were coming back here? When were you going to _tell_ me?" She beyond angry – she had thought she'd been mad earlier, but she was oblivious. _This_ was what true anger was, and under her skin, she felt her blood boiling. Tonio and Alice were staring at her, partly because she was speaking in tones – soft ones by nature that had been warped into shrill, angry bell tones. They couldn't understand what she was saying, but it was obvious they knew she was angry.

"You weren't, were you?"

"No." His answer was short, but it cut like a knife. Her insides churned uncomfortably, and she could have sworn she'd just been physically stabbed. "If I told you," He added, "You would not have let me come."

"_Of course I wouldn't let you come!_" Her throat wasn't working anymore, so she had to resort, finally, to speaking without it. "_I would not have let you come because the last time you came here, you came back in shreds! I thought you were going to die!_"

Tonio and Alice had not expected something like that out of her, and she knew that they must not have thought about where Darkrai remained when he was not with them. They obviously did not know, and she was angry at them for not giving it much thought. No, she was furious at them, for not considering what Darkrai's actions did to her. And she was fuming because of everyone else, _Darkrai_ didn't think about how his choices affected her. Her wings beat so quickly they became blurs at her sides.

"I can't help that, Cresselia," He said, finality and firmness in his tone, "I have to do what I'm told to do."

Her mind went numb, and she couldn't form articulate words. She stuttered for a long moment, and drew out nothing but gibberish. Finally, her brain seemed to kick into gear, and cleared the fog. "_Well you can't expect me to wait around and watch you die, Darkrai. Do whatever the hell you want, request an audience, because I won't be there._" The phantom seemed to actually recoil, a reaction she had not expected from him. But she was too angry to pay attention to this. "_I'm leaving, Darkrai, and I'm not waiting for you. If you don't come back, that's not my fault_." And, having said all she could manage to say, she turned on a dime and rushed down the flight of stairs. The building seemed to quake with her momentum, but she ignored it. The sooner she was out those two broken doors, the sooner she was out of this horrible _town_, she would feel better. And that was the only thing she thought about as she sped through the ruins of Alamos.

-----

Well, that was interesting. It's not a total repeat of the movie, guys, so don't abandon me just yet. A lot of crazy stuff is going to happen, so I suggest you keep all of your limbs in the vehicle and hold onto your hats. PS: FF hates putting in those line breaks.


	8. Chapter 8

Well, Fanfiction definitely hates line breaks. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, though! I have to have this finished before the first, so I'll be slaving for a while. Expect chapters. A lot of them. Nag me if I don't get them up.

I don't own Pokemon.

**Equilibrium**

**

* * *

**Chapter Eight

This was unbelievable.

Cresselia was outside of Alamos Town, somewhere deep within a forest. She'd never expected to get out of the town – from what she heard about last time, the town itself had been completely isolated in a separate dimension, making travel outside impossible. Obviously, this was not the case. Outside of the confines, though, life was different – the forest at the very edge of the deep watery ravine was dead. The needles were completely dried up and an ugly, ashen gray. Further in, the trees were alive. Cresselia wasn't sure when this happened, or how long it took her to get where she was, but she was aware that she was very _far_ away from the town.

And she was aware of just how angry she was.

In the last few minutes – hours, maybe, time was a blur and the sky had been smoggy all day – she'd begun to shake. First, it was not extremely noticeable, and she blamed it on the cold. Later, as she traversed further into the heavy wooded area, she realized it wasn't cold at all – it was a comfortable temperature – and her shaking had only increased by a tenfold. By the time she found a small break in the trees, she was quaking. Tremors broke out across her body, until she hummed and vibrated with pent up energy. Of the angry kind.

_It doesn't matter what happens_. She tried telling herself this over and over. So far, she'd said it fifty-seven and a half times. Abruptly, she stopped at the word matter and eyed the terrain about her. There was absolutely _nothing_ there, and it was unsettling. The forest was abandoned, much like the town had been. There was no trace of mass transit – no migration of Pokemon, no sounds, no prints in the dirt – it was like nothing had been there, ever. There was an oddly tranquil feeling in the air, like there had been peace there, undisturbed for centuries. Yet at the same time, the empty little meadow was completely isolated, disconnected, alone. The foreboding sense of being absolutely and positively alone was overwhelming, and Cresselia couldn't stand to dwell on the thought for very long. So her brain took the alternative course, it thought about Darkrai.

And it made her angry. No, beyond _angry_. Furious, fuming, inconsolable – she was pissed, to say the least, and she couldn't help but grit her teeth. How _dare_ he stay back there? How _dare_ he not consider what danger he was putting himself in? How _dare_ he not even _tell_ her? She was frustrated, in equal parts, with the anger. Not only did she hate being mad, but she hated the impossibilities of ignorance. She didn't know what was going to happen to Alamos, the quiet little inconsequential town in the middle of nowhere; she didn't know what was going to happen to Darkrai, the inconsequential idiot who tried to protect the little town; and most importantly, she didn't know what was even going to _attack_.

Maybe it was a plague, maybe it was another Pokemon. For all she knew, it was the second coming. Being left in the dark, Cresselia decided, was not one of her strong suits.

She stared, long and hard, at a tree in front of her. It was a very generic tree, and if her head hadn't been tilted toward it, she never would have picked it out from amongst its neighbors. Its bark was a dull, diluted brown, its leaves were a soggy looking green, and drooped at the edges. It had needles, not leaves. And there was a small blanket of fallen foliage around it. There was a fern bush, about three feet to the left of the tree, completely oblivious of her problems. And for that moment, Cresselia wished she was that little fern bush, unable to comprehend such difficult things.

_Maybe the town will explode_. She fancied this idea. _And then this little fern will go up in smoke_. As macabre as it was, it made her feel marginally better.

Didn't he know, though? Didn't he understand how his actions affected others? He was like a dew drop on a pristine puddle. Everything he did caused repercussions, and those would affect everyone – the legendaries, everyone in Alamos town, the _world_, her. Did he not realize this? Obviously he hadn't; because he'd come back to the forsaken little chunk of earth and decided, again, that it was his job to protect it. She longed to know what was so important about a town that he would choose it over everything else. Everything _important_. Arceus did not stress the importance of humans – there were only certain Pokemon that could logically be paired with a trainer. Only certain Pokemon who could handle such a commitment, and of all the Pokemon caught in the wild, few of them actually adjusted. Arceus said that only some humans were worth saving – the majority of them were selfish, greedy individuals who wouldn't care if they stomped on their own species, let alone Pokemon. Arceus did not like them very much, and Cresselia did not blame her, for the deity was correct in every accusation she made.

And yet, there was Darkrai. Little, insignificant Darkrai. Nobody really liked him, she mused. Pokemon fled from him, as he was a harbinger of terror, destruction, insanity. He was not a legendary who was known widely with the populace – and neither was she, really, but she'd never known anyone who knew Darkrai and not her. Generally, people shied away from him, and Pokemon fled in fear. Even the legendaries – with perhaps the exception of Giratina – disliked him. He was sardonic and cruel and not exactly the most pleasurable company. And she, his counterpart, possibly hated him even more than everyone else combined. She _hated_ him, and if she ever saw him again, she would have to kick his ass into next week.

And somehow, the idea of being separated – with it uncertain whether or not he could survive the predicament – was unbearable. There was a tangible tugging at her, and she almost felt herself gravitating back toward the town. Like he was a sun, and she was a lonely, meandering moon, unable to attract her own company because her gravitational pull was too small. She wasn't sure, exactly, what it was that made her so attached. She couldn't stand him, the way he spoke to her, the way he acted, his complete disregard for his own safety – and yet, she couldn't imagine living _without_ it. The thought of returning back to her island, without the knowledge of him being next door, was an unhappy, hopeless thought. Bleak and gray and unfathomable in its depth. And she knew, no matter how much she hated him for being stupid, no matter how angry – furious – she was with him, no matter how much she wished he would just go away – she knew she loved him, as well.

To anyone else, the epiphany of thought would have elated; but in Cresselia's case, it only pissed her off even further. With a disgruntled sigh, she angled herself back toward the town and departed from the lonely little clearing.


	9. Chapter 9

Well, if I've learned one thing now, its that I suck at deadlines.

I don't own Pokemon.

**Equilibrium**

**

* * *

**Chapter Nine

Darkrai swore.

He should not have underestimated Cresselia – he had hoped that keeping her in the Pokemon center would help him significantly; if she was locked in there, she wouldn't be able to cause him any grief. But of course, he did not take into account her persistence, and now things were just a mess. The claws of his right hand clenched and unclenched into tight fists as he thought. Alice stared at him, her eyes red and her face ragged – she looked a lot older than she really was. Tonio was on his phone, checking in with Officer Jenny at the contest hall. He was talking so quietly that Darkrai could only make out what he was saying if he chose to pay expert attention to the conversation – but he didn't have enough time to do that. His arm throbbed as he moved it, and the tendons ached, but he didn't stop making a fist.

He tucked his head in behind his armor, so the only thing visible above the maroon spikes was his cerulean eyes. He gnashed his teeth together audibly, and tensed his injured arm. Suddenly, it flew out and struck the wall beside him with such force, the thinning wood quivered. Pain radiated through it, but he ignored it. Alice flinched.

"We need to get out," He mused, so quiet that he feared Alice and Tonio hadn't heard him. He was about to repeat, when the young woman grabbed her fiancé's hand and led him toward the flight of wrought iron stairs – the only thing that hadn't seemed to fall apart before their very eyes.

Halfway down the flight, Tonio flipped his phone shut and reached into his bag. From it, he produced two small Pokeballs, which increased in size upon his touch. He opened them, and allowed two small Pokemon to escape. The two Driftblims floated before him, awaiting his orders. "I want you to go out and make sure everyone's in the Contest Hall," Tonio said simply, "Take anyone who isn't there to the building. We have to evacuate." The ghost Pokemon nodded and darted off through a rather obtuse hole in the wall. "From my observations, we're still _here_, in the same dimension. Maybe if we can get everyone out of the town –"

Darkrai interrupted, "It won't help."

Tonio made a move to speak again, but Darkrai drifted in front of him and held up a clawed hand. "Whether or not we get anyone out of the town's borders won't help. They'll be hunted down. I should know," He paused, sensing that the two humans had stopped descending the stairs. He turned to look at them. "It was my job to exterminate you."

Alice gasped, a choked mixture of a scream and a gulp that reverberated through the empty stairwell. Tonio merely stared. "I was supposed to do it weeks ago, months ago. But I didn't, I _couldn't_." He'd been hoping Cresselia would stay – he never wanted her to come originally, but as he thought about it, she would have proved useful to his cause. "So, I have to stop them from destroying the town in my place."

"Palkia and Dialga?" Tonio asked, his lips forming a small, flat line on his face.

"Yes…" Darkrai paused, "And no. No, this time, it's much worse."

The descended the rest of the stairs in silence. Every so often, Alice would squeak, and Darkrai knew that the situation was too much to handle. For _anyone_ in Alamos Town to handle. He was their savior, after all – he saved them from the deities of time and space, saved them from instant death. To learn that he'd originally been sent to destroy them, well, it was a lot to swallow. As they reached the ground outside the tower, Darkrai glanced at the sky. It was a sickly, sallow purple-blue, the color of a fresh bruise.

"But Dialga and Palkia, they don't like each other, and yet they'd work together to destroy the town?" Tonio asked, perplexed by the situation.

"They like each other much more than the humans realize," Darkrai prompted, staring stoically at the sky. "Time and space are linked, they're counterparts, you know. Without the other, they are meaningless. All of the counterparts rely heavily on the other one, no matter how they feel about them personally. Humans are frightfully unobservant, that's all."

"But they were attacking each other –"

"A ruse." Darkrai said, and then he fell silent. The static in the air was becoming unbearable, and the wind had whipped into a frenzy. The fog-like wisp of hair danced violently around his head, and somewhere in the distance, lightning struck. Then, there was a loud clap, as thunder reverberated through the city. Before him, buildings cracked.

"Then you and Cresselia…" Alice quipped. Darkrai's jaw set as he looked back at her.

"Cresselia does not understand." He said crossly. "It won't be long, now."

Tonio whipped out his cell again, and dialed quickly. "Is everyone accounted for?" He asked the person on the other line. His brow furrowed, but he looked relieved. "Good, good," For a long moment, his conversation became white noise. Darkrai couldn't focus on it if he tried. The tension that hung in the air was heavy, and every nerve ending in his body felt like it was on fire. His arm throbbed, painfully, and the cloth that had been wrapped around it was crimson again. "We're going to evacuate everyone, then."

"That way," Alice said quietly, to him. Tonio was still talking in urgent tones, but Darkrai couldn't focus. He hardly heard Alice, who was right beside him. "that way, you'll have less people to worry about, when you do whatever it is you came here to do."

Without a moment's notice, the ground began to quake. Alice tripped, caught herself, and started sprinting down the thick road, away from the tower. "We'll be getting everyone out," She called over her shoulder, hardly audible over the enormous rumble of the earth beneath them, "Don't worry!"

Tonio cursed, and threw his cell phone inside of his book bag. "Thing went dead," He muttered. "Just do whatever you have to do," He said seriously. He stared at Darkrai for an unbearable moment, and then sprinted after Alice.

Behind him, there was an ear-shattering, inhuman shriek. He whirled, bracing himself for onslaught. From behind the double towers stood the deity he'd been dreading the most. Dialga stood, glorious and regal and intimidating. Her skin seemed to radiate a faint blue glow, and her eyes shimmered with something that could only be called bloodthirsty. He formed a fist with his hand, and skittered backward. Her metallic crown shimmered in the light of the storm, and her fan quivered with pent up energy. The muscles in her neck tensed, and her tendons bulged as her jaw snapped open, and ravenous roar escaped.

Behind him, screams diffused through the air. He glanced quickly over his shoulder, and noticed Palkia, floating halfway in the air with his wings beating furiously. He glanced toward Dialga, and roared loudly.

"Dialga…" Darkrai muttered, then frowned. "You don't have to do this."

"But I do," She said. Her voice, majestic and too bell-like for her dragon form, sliced cleanly through the air. "I've been _ordered_ to. But you don't seem to understand that, do you, Darkrai?" She smiled, a thrilling, adrenaline-inspiring sort of smile, and crouched. In one swift bound, she lifted herself into the air, seemed to hover for a moment, then darted forward. Her hind legs hit the edge of her own tower, and the walls caved from the force. He darted backward swiftly into the air, narrowly missing the large, snapping jaws.

Behind him, the screams roared up again, in waves this time. He glanced over his shoulder again, overwhelmed by the sense that he should be over _there_, helping _them_. Palkia remained in the air, his forearms stretched into arcs on either side of him. In the air were four large chunks of rock – from underneath the town, no doubt – and there they hovered. With one flick, a large chunk of earth flew into the ground. The screams continued.

"_Damn_," He swore, glancing back to Dialga just in time to miss the snapping of her large teeth again. The air crackled, and thin strips of electricity bounded toward him, generated by Dialga. He pulled his arms before him and charged a Dark Void. The balls of energy darted quickly toward Dialga, but she dodged them expertly, looking more like a dancer than a hulking dragon. She darted into the air, hovered there for a moment, and stared squarely at Darkrai. She smiled again, then parted her jaws. It was silent for a minute, but the dragon took in a large breath, and from her mouth, she exacted a blood curdling roar. Darkrai was blasted backward, and buildings around him crumbled at a frighteningly quick rate. His body shuddered, and threatened to fail. "Damn." He repeated.

He double teamed swiftly, copies of himself formed a semi-circle around the dragon's head. With exacted timing, they shifted upward, and each one charged another Dark Void. The illusions of himself released them at the same time, and distracted, kept Dialga preoccupied. He shot away from the scene, toward the opposing, cream and carnation colored dragon. The streets were chaos – people were trying to exit the town, without much success. _I told them it wouldn't work_. He thought sourly, the words forming a disgusting aftertaste in his mouth, despite the fact he never truly uttered them. He growled, a low, throaty sound that didn't travel well in the calamity around him. He brought his arms to his chest again, focused his energy on a Dark Pulse, and shot it at the dragon. It hit Palkia, square in the shoulders, and caused the dragon to roar – but he didn't move any further. Satisfied, he hit the space deity with a Dark Void, and Palkia fell out of the air like a rock, destroying the buildings beneath him. The dragon twitched and flailed in his sleep, and remained caught in a permanent nightmare.

And then it hit him. Bone-shattering force erupted on his left side, as Dialga wrapped her jaw around him. She threw him higher in the air, and with a roar, ascended beneath him. She quickly rounded herself, hovering just above him. One large, clawed paw rested on his chest, and with frightening speed, they descended. He hit the pavement with a resounding boom. His head slammed into the pavement, and the claws on his chest buried themselves in his shoulders. He hissed, and charged a Dark Pulse. Dialga arched her neck, so that her face hovered above his. Her lips furled back, and white, glittering fangs remained, threatening and obscure. "Are you ready to die yet, Darkrai?" She asked, oddly pleasant. It figured – nobody seemed to like him much, anyway. His feeble attempt at hypnotizing her failed, and the ball of black energy died. A pain in the back of his head started, throbbing at first, then it evolved into a sharp, stabbing, and he was vaguely aware of the blood that was clotting. He blinked, furiously, unable to stop his vision from fogging. And then, it finally flickered out.

--

GASP.

Am I evil, or what? I wanted to add a darker tone to the story. So I did. And trust me, it gets worse.


	10. Chapter 10

This should be the last real chapter of Equilibrium. I may end up adding another, and then an epilogue, though, depending on where this goes. This is an insanely long chapter. I would have broken it up, but I couldn't figure out where I could do that.

I don't own Pokemon.

**Equilibrium**

**

* * *

**Chapter Ten

The carnage was overwhelming. Cresselia skirted the town nervously, allowing herself to remain on the ledge of the surrounding crevice. Below her, water ravaged, a frenzy of foam and swirling gray liquid. Above her, dark thunderheads produced long beams of lightning, which lit the land in a surreal way and made stark contrast with the once pleasant scene. The town before her was not much of a town anymore – it was a ruin, it was a mess. It was practically _gone_. She was transfixed by the sheer terror, the force of the invasion, the devastation. She'd never seen anything like it in her life: Buildings crumbled to their foundations, leaving ragged, jutting skeletal bones in their place. Ghosts of what they used to be. The tower, barely visible in the commotion, was suffering significantly – its bravado and glamour completely destroyed. Obliterated was the majesty that the town once held, and it was replaced by a frightening sense of dismal, hopeless calamity. Chaos reigned in the form of two monstrous gods, who delivered their havoc in the most terrifying ways.

And she couldn't move.

She had never seen such a side to either Palkia or Dialga; she'd never seen them so malicious, so bloodthirsty. In fact, she'd never even seen Giratina in such a state; she was shell shocked. Her body shook, and terror flowed through her veins, thicker and stickier than her own blood. Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she watched the scene unfold. The two dragons raced above the city, throwing attacks at what she could only guess were groups of people. Palkia had a long gash along the back of his shoulders, and the base of his wings were stained an ugly crimson – something she was sure was Darkrai's doing, nothing else could touch them. And as she watched, her stomach sunk as she realized there was no flittering, gray figure trying to stop them. And her blood, thick with fear, ran cold. Darkrai wasn't there, and she knew he wouldn't just let the town be brought to its knees without a fight. "But that would mean…"

She didn't even finish her sentence before her wings jumped into action. She lunged forward, off of the cliff, and caught an updraft. She drifted forward swiftly, raising just high enough to flutter to a halt at the edge of the ruined town. She hid quickly, behind a tall, thin pillar of bricks, and glanced up at the deities. They were focused somewhere else, and hadn't noticed her. With a soft sigh, she darted forward through the alley, flew over a small chain-link fence, then glided into one of the main arteries of the town. She paused for a half a second to make sure she hadn't been seen, then drifted forward once again, headed toward the epicenter of the attack, which lay in the heart of the town.

She was halfway there when an explosion erupted beside her, and forced her back down a small alley. Palkia roared, rearing his head above a building that had just caught fire. A cacophony of frightened voices rose from behind the building, and she noticed a group of people, fleeing. Within that group, she noticed Alice, who was trying desperately to organize everyone. The second Palkia glanced away, Cresselia zoomed around the inflamed building and to the woman trying to rally everyone together.

"_Where's Darkrai?_" She asked immediately. Alice glanced around, shocked, relieved, and frightened. Her eyes were wide and tired, and her hair was tangled from the sharp wind.

"I don't know," She ushered a small group of Pokemon trainers – Cresselia saw their belts, and realized they must have been tourists – around a corner to seek shelter. They were inching slowly toward the edge of the city, where another large group could be seen conjuring up their Pokemon. It was too dangerous, Cresselia realized, for them to use the only structural exit out of the town, so they were resorting to flying or swimming on their Pokemon. Two small Driftblim bobbed above the group, watching them and urging them forward. "He disappeared a half hour ago, we haven't seen him since." Alice was on the verge of crying, and she had to turn away to get a grip on herself. "We're not going to make it, without him. We're going to die."

Although Cresselia knew this was true, she did not say anything. Palkia had moved to a different quadrant of the town, and she could not see Dialga. The fact that the large indigo dragon was out of her range of vision troubled her greatly, and made her jumpy. "_What are you planning to do?_" She asked, a bitter edge reaching into the projected voice. Alice didn't look at her.

"We're trying to evacuate the town," She replied hastily, closing the group of trainers off and herding them through the alley. "Maybe if we can get them out…"

"_It won't work_." Cresselia said, glancing skyward to the deities. "_If they want to destroy you, they will_."

Alice laughed, a small chuckle bordering heavily on hysteria. "That's what Darkrai said."

--

He groaned. He hurt, everywhere, and there was nothing he could do about it. Edges poked abusively into his back, and his head pounded, like someone was smashing cymbals on either side of his ears. Either that or they had popped, or exploded. Each seemed plausible, given the greatness of his pain. There was a symphony of sounds around him, each edged with despair and destruction, and neither welcoming. All he could see was black, and he wondered if that was what death was like. It was an uncomfortable institution, and wasn't what it was chalked up to be. It was _painful_, it was _disgusting_, and most importantly, it was _loud_. There was a roar, something like fire, and then another roar – a beast of some sort – from somewhere far off in the distance. There was thunder, wind, something misty like rain, and there was wetness. It took him a long while to realize that I must have been raining around him, in his black abyss. Each droplet tingled, sizzled, and made his skin burn – maybe it was acid rain.

He tried to sink back into himself, to get away from the pain, the noise, the _smell_, but it didn't work. The hot scent of fire was pungent, and the smell of decay was too strong to ignore. He squeezed his eyelids shut, making the darkness even blacker. He was drifting closer to the surface, seemingly held up by an unknown buoyancy. The pain on his back became more concentrated, and then his arms hurt. His head throbbed, and his chest was on fire. The pain became clearer, and clearer, and more unbearable the further he drifted.

And then, he woke up.

--

Cresselia cursed as she flittered around a small group of children. She had no chance against Palkia or Dialga, the tower was destroyed, there was no more music – so the only effective approach she saw was to help Alice. The woman wasn't far away, either. She'd just escorted the trainers through the rubble, and was working on another group of elderly people, who moved too slowly for the span of time they had to escape. The children she was gathering together moved quickly, they were frightened and crying, but they moved. And she was thankful for that. She flew behind them, quickly but not quick enough to exert herself. Their pace may have been swift, but it was frighteningly slow compared to her own maximum speeds – let alone Palkia or Dialga's.

The only factor on her side was that they were blinded by their newfound abilities. They seemed to enjoy destruction far more than they should have, and were focusing their attentions on doing so. Every so often, Dialga would roar and the buildings – or what was left of them – would crumble. Palkia, every so often, obliterated them completely, leaving bare, black spots where they once stood. A large crater loomed to her left, and she didn't know why, but she was afraid of it. She couldn't figure out why, but Cresselia got a terrible feeling whenever she darted too close, so she redirected her group of humans away from it, and changed course slightly. The ground beneath them trembled with the power of the dragons' attacks, and only succeeded in frightening the children even more. "_Shhh, shhh,_" She tried to calm them, "_We're almost there._"

She met up with Alice on the edge of the town. There, the two Driftblims each picked up a small child. They struggled only a little with the weight, and worked on moving them to the confines of the ruined forest, the only place Palkia and Dialga had completely ignored. A small group of trainers was clustered as well, offering their Pokemon to aid in the evacuation. They were instructing numerous flying types – Pidgeots, Staraptors, a Charizard – telling each Pokemon where to drop off their passengers. Two kids clambered up on the large Charizard, and the Pokemon grasped a smaller one – five at the oldest – and leapt from the cliff. It glided effortlessly across the gorge, to the edge of the forest. Cresselia watched them, unable to ignore the sense of foreboding that was washing over her. With some effort, she turned away from the scene and dashed back into the skeletal remains of the town.

"Where are you going?" Alice shouted after her, but she was too far away to bother replying. She darted toward Dialga, the closest of the two legendaries, and hid behind the remnants of a scaffold. The dragon was too preoccupied with a small cluster of Pokemon – trainer Pokemon – to notice. Cresselia took a deep breath and focused. Her wings glittered with psychic energy, and Dialga followed suit. The dragon waved her head side to side, slowly and mechanically, as if she were dizzy. Suddenly, the beast snapped her face forward, found Palkia, and roared loudly. The second dragon growled as he stumbled backward, into the Contest Hall – crumbling stone at that point – and gripped his head with sharp talons. His wings beat furiously and flightlessly as his counterpart turned toward him and attacked again. Cresselia sighed, relieved, and darted back to where Alice was aiding the refugees.

--

The sky was not a friendly place. Above him, dark purple thunderheads brewed, and rain split from them. To the right of his vision, there was a faint, golden glow, one Darkrai was not unsure of. He knew exactly what it was, and it _terrified_ him. He struggled for a long moment and sat up, wincing. His chest bled, although not as profusely as it must have been earlier. The flow had reduced itself to small rivulets that coated his armor and left his chest splattered with gore. He got up manually, too unsure of himself to hover, and used his arms and knees to support him. He glanced up at the glow, cursing weakly. The glow increased, and a deafening, bell-like hum filled the air. He glanced away from the glow temporarily to see Dialga attacking Palkia – was she _confused_? His brow furrowed together. Such a thing was impossible, any mortal Pokemon couldn't get _close_ enough to her to do such a thing, let alone tie her mind up with such a basic move. Processing thought was uncomfortable, so he turned his head a fraction of an inch, back to the glow. It looked fainter, but not by much – like a charge of electricity in a stormy sky. He swore, and sorely, got to his feet. With great effort, he bounded into the air, adjusted his balance, then darted toward the deities. They were doomed, now, and he knew it. In such a state – or even in perfect health, for that matter – there was little to nothing he could do now. He could hope, maybe, but hope was a fragile thing, and he didn't have time for it.

He wobbled in the air as he approached the battling dragons, and paused short of them. He charged a Dark Pulse – a shadow of one of his typical attacks – and fired it at Palkia. Despite the weakness of the attack, it connected with the preoccupied deity and sent him crashing to the ground. A large gash appeared in his armor, and he screamed. Dialga descended upon her counterpart with frightening speed, and slashed at him with her claws. In the street below him, people stood perplexed, and out of the sea of faces, he found Alice – smiling, amazingly, in the desperation of the situation.

But then it happened. The clouds erupted and a blinding gold glow flooded the desolate remains of Alamos town. Palkia stopped moving, and Dialga, snapping out of her confusion, glanced up at the beam, seemingly unaffected by the brightness. Darkrai shied from it, naturally trying to advert himself from the path of the light. When the glow died away, a brilliant figure – white as an albino and covered in shimmering golden armor – majestic and demanding, an omnipotent force too powerful for words, remained. Her dark face turned upward, green eyes glittering, and Arceus sung a loud, soprano roar. Darkrai jerked away from it instinctively, but was no worse for wear – Arceus was just starting with a boom, not dooming them all to death.

Arceus' jaws parted menacingly, and from between them, a large beam appeared. It gathered static energy and formed a large, glowing ball between her teeth. It rolled and surged with power, until it broke free and formed a hyper beam. Arceus directed the beam through the town, leaving in its wake a zig-zag of pure destruction that left nothing but scorched earth. Buildings, plants, streets, roads, all were completely obliterated. Everything around it petrified instantly, turning to stone. Ash gathered in the air, leaving a heavy smog where the beam of undiluted power. It lasted far longer than Darkrai had ever seen one last, but finally, after an excruciatingly long period of time, the beam died down and Arceus shifted in the sky. She roared, triumphant, and Dialga and Palkia ascended on him once more.

"You are going to die, Darkrai," Palkia growled, his voice husky and low, a rumble. "You are going to die, and now, it's only a matter of how _painful_ you want to make it for yourself."

Palkia reared his head backward, and from his own mouth, produced a beam of energy. The hyper beam took less time to charge than Arceus', but it was less powerful. Finally, Palkia shot the beam, a powerful – but not as brilliant – display of power, directly toward him. Darkrai jerked backward, then up, and barely missed the beam. Arceus sat, from her front row perch in the clouds, and watched the disaster unfold with an unnaturally smug look on her face.

--

Cresselia saw it before anyone else. Arceus appeared, leaving her own imprint on the empty block of land. Alamos was no more – fire sparked from what little remained of the buildings, and explosions broke out in numerous spots. The thick layer of rain that covered the land was not enough to quell the fires that broke out.

But that was no longer important. She only saw two things – Palkia and Alice. And then, the beam that would connect the two. Adrenaline raced through her and slowed time down, so her brain could make the connection. Darkrai, who had miraculously risen from the ashes – and renewed her sense of worry, was too close to Palkia and Dialga to do anything within the allotted time. He would not be able to stop the charge that threatened Alice. And there was no one, not in the crowd of scattering people, or all the Pokemon in the world, who'd be able to do anything. Except her. The decision was made in less time than it seemed, but Cresselia felt that it took hours to deliberate. Even if they didn't survive the battle, she knew she'd never be able to live with herself if every day of her life, she had to watch Darkrai if Alice died. If she died, that one, fragile little human, then Darkrai would die, too. Not physically, no, but there was _something_ about that little human that the legendary phantom admired. And if she died, that part of him – however large it was – would die as well. She grit her teeth and flung her wings into action. Pink energy swirled around the veils on her body, creating a barrier around them. Moving as fast as she could gather herself to move, Cresselia darted in front of Alice and projected the energy into a barrier before her. The hyper beam hit the thick armor of psychic energy, and everything seemed to explode.

--

Things happened very slowly, then.

Darkrai saw flashes of images all at once. He traced the hyper beam to the ground, and saw a single person amidst a group of frenzying people. While the crowd ran, the single figure stood still, terrified. Alice was no longer smiling, instead, she was watching the hyper beam approach her with startling speed. _No._ Darkrai made a hissing sound, but couldn't move himself. It was like he was stuck, hung by the strings of a puppet master, unable to shift in even the slightest way. His limbs felt like rocks in a pond, and seemed to sink.

And then something else happened. It all seemed unreal, like a movie playing before him. Darkrai watched as a small, pink blur darted forward from somewhere in the bylines and directed itself immediately in front of the hyper beam. The two energies collided, and there was an explosion of light. When his retinas adjusted, Alice stood, cowering – but otherwise unharmed. And then he glanced up to a small grove of petrified trees. The park itself had been turned to stone, and there was no life radiating from it. One of the trees, the largest of them, was broken in half – the canopy overturned almost comically. At the base of the tree was the small, pink form that had dived in front of the beam. It no longer glowed, and looked dull in comparison to the flash of light. Darkrai blinked to get rid of the dark flashes in his vision, and squinted, until he could see what it was.

And everything was quiet.

Behind him, Dialga and Palkia floated. Their attacks had immediately ceased. Darkrai dropped five feet, as if he had experienced turbulence. He gripped his bloodied chest and stared at the small spot by the tree. The spot was expanding, slowly, but the color was all wrong – it was not the soft yellow or blue that it should be, it was red. Palkia and Dialga mirrored Darkrai's expression as they stared at the unmoving spot on the ground. Alice turned, confused, and immediately screamed.

It felt as if everything had drained out of his body. He was cold all over, and any trace of warmth was gone. His stomach did a paralyzing flip as he stared at his counterpart, hunched over the broken trunk. "No…" He murmured, so quiet he hardly heard it himself. There was an irregular, strained thrum in his chest as he drifted slowly out of the air. When he was close enough to the ground, he moved forward. It was too slow for him, much too slow – even when he knew he was moving very quickly, it did not seem quick enough. Alice was crouching over Cresselia, and she was sobbing. Darkrai's stomach made a funny, painful flopping motion.

"Cresselia…" Alice whimpered at the fallen swan. Her face was drenched with tears, and she was caressing the lunar legendary's wing, which was contorted into an unnatural position. She looked up, helplessly at him, as he approached the two. Cresselia's neck was draped along the stump, so her crowned head hung over the edge. He lowered himself to the ground and carefully reached forward, ever aware of his movements. He picked her head up and knelt. He pulled her slowly off of the ruined tree, careful not to disturb her – she was still bleeding, and any movement could hurt her worse.

"She…" Alice choked on a sob, "She's not… d-dead, is she?" A low rumble of feet catching the ground made him glance up. He pulled the broken swan closer to him when he saw Palkia and Dialga. The pink dragon's carmine eyes were wide and frightened, like he had snapped out of a stupor. In the air, Arceus' smirk had obliterated. Her expression was unfathomable. Darkrai glanced down at Cresselia, assessing her. She had, to say the least, several extreme lacerations, and countless bones were broken. Half of her looked burned. Palkia turned his head upward a bellowed a long, mournful tune.

"Shut _up_!" Darkrai roared, and the dragon fell silent. Gently, he turned Cresselia's face. Her eyelids drooped, and her eyes were glassy with pain. A chill swept over him as he saw them blink slowly. Palkia crouched and jumped into the air, launching himself forward with blinding speed. Dialga remained, staring at the limp swan that sat, cradled protectively by Darkrai. The shiny glimmer of liquid rolled down the sapphire dragon's cheeks before she too, shot into the air after Palkia.

Everything around him disappeared. He was vaguely aware of Alice shouting for help, or the unmistakable sound of Arceus leaving. He knew that the goddess would be back, just _when_ he didn't know. He didn't know how long it was later, but someone was trying to pry Cresselia away from him. He fought back, to the best of his abilities, but he felt his arms go numb, and finally, they failed him. Whoever it was took his counterpart from him, and left him, sitting alone in the rain.

--

Yes, I'm aware. I am absolutely evil. If I make a sequel, Arceus will be back. I wonder how many of you saw THIS coming, hm? There will be at least one more chapter after this one. This chapter was 3,700+ words long.


	11. Epilogue

WELL. Thank you to everyone who's read the story. This will be the last chapter, the epilogue. I decided I could just stuff everything in here and be finished with the darned thing. x3 I MAY want to make a sequel, to help explain what the heck happened here – there's a poll in my profile. Voting takes roughly five seconds. I'd greatly appreciate it if you use that five seconds of your life to help me finish my debate. The sequel would start in December, since… I'm doing the NaNoWriMo right now. Anyway, without further adieu…

**Equilibrium**

**

* * *

**Epilogue

He sat in the corner of the room. He just didn't have it in him to really fly – he hadn't eaten, hadn't slept, hadn't done much of _anything,_ productive anyway, in a week, and he wasn't about to break the trend. So he sat, legs extended before him and bent at the knee. He was hunched over them, his elbows on the joints and his forehead on top of his arms. He'd been sitting like this for at least four days. The other three days of the week, he'd either been traveling. The residents of Alamos had rallied up and gone to the nearest town, Durnsmark, some twenty miles away. It was another small town, but it was large enough to accommodate them all, if not comfortably.

Currently, he was in their Pokemon center. It was larger than Alamos', more comfortable. Every hour, nurses came in and checked Cresselia's vitals, sometimes they changed bags filled with clear liquid that were attached to her. He _hated_ seeing the needles, the medical paraphernalia. But worst of all, he hated the smell. The floors were cleaned with a horrible antiseptic that burned whenever he breathed, and it smelled like _death_.

Cresselia's prognosis had been dim. At the scene, Alamos' own Nurse Joy had assessed her. She'd lost almost half of her blood, was in shock, and had – officially – been pronounced as comatose. She'd broken several bones, burned parts of her chest and her stomach, not to mention her wings, and was overall in poor condition. They hadn't expected her to live at all, but she had.

But that wasn't the worst of it. When they arrived at Durnsmark, the doctors gave her a long-term prognosis, if she survived the worst of it. The very thought made Darkrai's throat sore, and it seemed to swell, until he could no longer breathe. The doctors said she was lucky that she wasn't brain dead – the explosion had done so much damage to her body that they were surprised that the lack of oxygen hadn't killed her. It had, however, along with multiple compression injuries, completely destroyed her ability to move. She was paralyzed below the neck. The doctors had, however, said with extensive rehabilitation – granted she even woke _up_ – she would be able to move again. She would, if she were even luckier, be able to regain her full extent of mobility. If she woke up, anyway.

Then there was the seventy-eight percent chance that Cresselia would just be a vegetable forever. The doctors weren't optimistic about her waking up at all.

The constant beep of her respirator and heart monitors were the only thing that reassured him. Every so often, her face would twitch. She'd been thrown into the ward furthest from the rest of the injured or ill Pokemon, simply because he refused to _leave_. He knew Cresselia suffered from it – whatever was going on in her head probably only rubbed salt in her wounds – but he couldn't bring himself to leave. So, he'd pretended that maybe the nightmares would coax her into waking up. So far, they hadn't.

And so, he waited.

--

He'd been in there for two weeks. The majority of the able-bodied men from Alamos had returned back to the remnants of the town and were working on clearing it out. Women with small children were staying in a temporary fixture in Durnsmark. In general, life was horrible. Darkrai shifted and glanced at his arm, which was missing its bandaging. He'd had it taken off three days ago, and although there were still signs of injury, the threat of infection was gone. The nurse said it would only be a few days, and if he took care of it right, there would be little scarring. Somehow, it didn't seem important.

He had two weeks left. The doctors said that most coma patients were in the state for four or so weeks, after that, the likelihood of them waking up decreased significantly. At some point, they'd had him talk to her – they said that it would help, and although he knew very little about medical conditions, he doubted them. Still, he tried. Alice brought him a newspaper every few days – but he couldn't read half of it. Still, whatever he knew, he told her. He prattled on about how everyone was rebuilding, and even went so far as to saying that when she woke up, she had every single right to rip him limb from limb. But, no matter how hard he tried to coax her from her living death, the only responses he got was complete stillness. She only moved when she had nightmares. The doctors assured him she probably wasn't even aware she was having them – it was just her brain's response to the stimuli of terror. So he continued his vigil, despite how hungry he was. The nurses brought him food, some disgusting, generic sort of blocky thing. He didn't know what it was, and it didn't taste very good, but he ate it anyway.

And then he waited some more.

--

He had been waiting for twenty-four days, seven hours, and eighteen minutes. Alice and Allie had persuaded him to leave the room for a few minutes, at least to eat and get something to drink so he himself didn't die. They talked to him, though he really didn't answer them. Sometimes they dragged him out so the bandages on his chest could be changed, but the wounds were almost done healing. His arm was fine.

Cresselia's wounds were healing, too. The burns were better than they had been when she had first been admitted. Most of the deep tissue injuries had resolved themselves, and the lacerations were almost mended. She was no longer covered with thick, blotchy bruises, but she wasn't healthy looking, either. Her once-vibrant down was sallow and sickly, and she was still covered with several different braces to help her bones repair. Every few days she got an x-ray, and the doctors said that although everything was healing slowly, it was healing.

He was still hopeful she'd wake up.

--

The worst thing he could imagine happened on the twenty-seventh day.

He hadn't even noticed it at first. He'd dozed off, only to be awoken by the incessant blare of the heart monitor. It made horrible, screaming sounds, and he was jostled awake by the flurry of nurses who'd swarmed into the room. She wasn't dying, apparently, but death might have been better. Cresselia's whole body was seizing, and it took the entirety of six nurses to hold her down. One of them had something in a syringe, and injected it into her stomach. Slowly, the movements ceased, and the monitor lowered slightly. The doctors said that her heart rate was reaching a normal level, and the seizure was a good thing – she was moving, at least. They took several tests, most of which where they pinched her with a pair of sinister looking scissors. She reacted. The doctors said that was a good sign, too. If she was moving, then there was a chance she might not be paralyzed, that it may have been temporary paralysis. He wasn't sure how that worked, but it sounded promising enough.

--

On the twenty-eighth day, the last of the four week grace period, Cresselia woke up.

Since the seizure, her heart rate had returned to normal. It meant that the swelling in her brain was decreasing, and that it was more likely she would wake up. And she did. He'd been watching her for an hour, because every little twitch made him panic. But then, her head lolled to the side and her eyes fluttered open, and she stared at him. Relief glided over him like a blanket, and for the first time in a day, he actually got up. He had to float over the nurses' shoulders to see what they did to Cresselia – some of them pinched her again, and Cresselia reacted. Another one was taking a blood sample, and another was observing Cresselia's pupils. The swan tried to speak, but everything she uttered was complete gibberish. She looked frustrated, because of this, and Darkrai couldn't help but grin. The nurses said it was a miracle – although she couldn't move fully, her limbs did have mobility in them. She looked a little tipsy, whenever she tried to move – she either moved too much, or in the wrong direction, and couldn't do very much at all – but at least she could move.

Within an hour, she could speak.

The nurses said that the memory loss would only be mild, and it was. She didn't remember what happened to her, or much of last day she'd been awake, but at least she knew who he was.

Within a day, she could sit up.

Cresselia's injuries were still bad. Her broken ribs had mended, but were extremely fragile. Her recovery had increased as soon as she'd woken up, and the scrapes along her body were small scars. The burns were gone, too, but the coloration where they had been looked a little off. It was imperceptible to eyes that had not stared at the burns for four weeks. She could hold fluent conversations, to both him and to the humans, and was working on remembering how to use the full extent of her abilities. Her mobility had increased greatly, and they had taken a good deal of the needles out of her. She could eat and drink on her own, although it was a painful and time-consuming process. But at least she could do it.

"How long was I out?" She asked him one day. She'd become increasingly meek since she'd woken up – everyone said personality changes were to be expected. It was strange, having a normal conversation with Cresselia, without the possibility of having his head chomped right off. And sometimes he struggled to keep his temper, but he made sure he didn't step out of line. She didn't deserve it, after all.

"Four weeks, to the day," He said solemnly. She always seemed to hate the way he spoke, how emotionless it was. The truth was, he'd shown far too much emotion in the weeks she'd been out, and that he was too exhausted to really do much more. Emotionally, he was completely spent.

"What happened?" She pressed. She'd become accustomed to staring at the wall as she questioned him. Darkrai wasn't sure why.

"Palkia and Dialga," He paused, because Cresselia furrowed her brows. A moment later, the expression eased. "Are you okay?"

"Mmhm," She said quietly, "Just remembering who they are, that's all."

As disconcerting as this thought was, he continued. "They attacked Alamos. You saved Alice." _And nearly killed yourself in the process_. He wanted nothing more than to yell at her for it, to tell her never to do such a stupid thing ever again, that he couldn't _stand_ the thought of losing her. But whenever he tried to explain anything with such significance, he found the words just wouldn't come.

Two weeks after she'd woken up, she was still under the watchful eye of the Doctors. Most of her bones were mended, but they wanted to observe her, just in case. "I knew you were there," She said simply. He winced. "I heard you talking to me. I didn't know what you were saying, but thank you."

You're welcome seemed like the understatement of the century. So he simply just smiled at her. He couldn't remember a time he'd been so happy, so willing to actually smile. He was used to being quiet, observant, and unresponsive. But now, they simply flowed like water. Cresselia noticed this, and smiled back.

And it was all he ever could have asked for.

**the end.**

--

WELL, there it is. THE END.

I'm not very fond of those words, but yeah. There's a poll in my profile. Should I, or should I not, make a sequel? It's up to you guys. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story. I cannot explain how thankful I am that you actually read it – even when it took me forever to update. Thank you all so much! I hope you enjoyed it. It's been a wild ride, but it's been fun.


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